The Fading Skyline
by iSnuffles
Summary: renoXoc. During a raid at Costa del Sol, two Second Class SOLDIERs are killed & their murderer is brought in for interrogation. Shin-Ra offers her a dangerous bargain: complete cooperation & enlistment within their ranks as a Turk or face execution.
1. Bargaining Chips

Author's Note: Ah, another story but one of which I'll actually continue! I have several chapters written already. I'd really like it if someone volunteered to be a beta but I can't force that one anyone. Anyway, enjoy and review please. Even if it's just a smily face so I know you liked it (or a flame to know you hated it XD). I'd like three reviews before I update.

* * *

**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter I: **Bargaining Chips

* * *

"Look, you already know I'm not telling you jack shit, so why don't you skip over the part where you try to psyche me out with the details and get it over with already?"

They were in a room usually left abandoned. Nothing more than a plain room with gray walls and a select few pieces of matching monotone furniture clustered in the center of the room. A metal table, two metal chairs on opposite sides and a florescent light that flickered rather quickly. Tseng considered his words for a moment and rested his arms over the table, placing one hand over the other.

"And just what would you like to get over?" he asked calmly of the person sitting across from him. A young woman, perhaps in her early twenties at appearance, with dark, russet skin and angry chocolate eyes stared back at him. Her tangled light brown hair clung to the sweat and blood that her matted her face, all evidence of the company' cruelty. Angry black and blue bruises adorned a face masked with a scowl of the utmost loathing, matching marks going down her arm that had been bound to the chair. She couldn't have met him more than fifteen minutes ago but he was already sure that the woman from Costa del Sol hatred him with a passion. That was understandable. Shin Ra had jut raided her home with countless infantry men and a handful of Second Class SOLCDIERS, the only one he knew by name being Zack Fair. But she should consider herself lucky. Tseng had been there and because of his careful eye; the woman was now here instead of left as one of the discarded bodies now littering the Costan shoreline.

"The bullshit," she answered in a voice of false calmness. Tseng could see that her jaw was clenched either in concentration to avoid the pain swarming her body or in rage. "Tell me how the Company plans on disposing of me."

"Your punishment, you mean," Tseng clarified emotionlessly. He briefly closed his eyes and opened them in time to see her nod faintly. "Would you like me to remind you of why you are here miss?" he asked softly.

"Didn't your men already do that?" she asked, gesturing to her beaten body with her head.

Tseng sighed. "Those were not my men."

"Then who were they?"

"Two SOLDIER operatives—friends of the ones you took down." He noticed the female smile wryly to herself. Was she amused with the fact that she had managed to kill two Second Class SOLDIERs?

"Best friends, then," she muttered with a bittersweet laugh Tseng couldn't say if it were true or not but he was certain her swollen right eye was caused more out of spite than the standard procedure for someone who was non-compliant in an interrogation. "Care to let me in on the method of my disposal,___señor__?" _

"Your charges then," he said sympathetically and opened a thin folder that had been placed in front of him prior to the session. He pushed it over to her for her to read. She took a glance at it and laughed before wincing in pain.

"I'm not so familiar with you language," she said. It was a clear lie if she could speak so fluently outside her native Costan tongue. "Read it to me." When her anger had dissolved into an annoyed arrogance, Tseng couldn't tell but it seemed odd to suddenly gain confidence at the prospect of being executed.

"Very well then." Still not quite believing her, Tseng took the folder back and turned it around so that he could read it. "Miss Delgado, you are being charged with the following; illegal possession and distribution of illegal substances, illegal possession of firearms and war-crafts, general assistance towards rebel forces in Wutai via providing arms and armed forces to said group, and, conclusively, the murder of two Second Class SOLDIERs. Do— Miss Delgado?" As he finished reading off the small report about the raid, she had dropped her head. Her knotted and tangled brown locks covered her face and she was shaking slightly now. Crying? Now? "Miss Delgado?"

"Ha, ha. You know, I thought it would have been more than that," she chuckled grimly. "Not charging me for all of my men's actions?"

"Shin Ra acknowledges that your gang, _Los Angelitos_, was run by a man the area knew as 'Jefe'. We suspected you were also involved with the headship of the group, as the two of you were romantically involved. Given your current circumstances, I wouldn't recommend confirming that suspicion, miss."

"And why is that… whoever the hell you are?"

The Wutaiin man almost twitched at the lack of respect she had towards him. "Tseng," he corrected. "And at the given prospect the Company is considering, I'd advisor you to refrain from further incriminating yourself."

"Tseng…." It wasn't a question. She was merely trying the name out. Looking up, she met his eyes for the first time since he had entered the small grayscale room. "You also seem like a good person, Tseng," she began after looking him over for a few moments. "Let me guess…. They sent the one good soul in the entire deranged company to deal with me, right?" He said nothing. "I'm not incompetent," she continued, "But if you think that just because your SOLDIERs have beaten the crap out of me several times within the past twenty-four hours, I'm going to be of any use to you or bow down to you, you've got another thing coming."

* * *

The mission had been fairly simply. Nothing out of the ordinary for SOLDIER, other than the fact that the sheer number of men assigned to it seemed a bit excessive to Second Class Zack Fair. He, as well as a few of his pristine comrades, had been assigned to lead a raid against a gang that seemed to have been stepping on Shin-Ra's toes lately. _Los Angelitos,_ they were called, a Costan gang that had once been a frequent customer of the company back in the days of Shin-Ra Manufacturing Works. Because of this, Zack believed that was how the company initially found out about the full extent of the gang's activities, deciding then to kiss up to _Los Angelitos_ rather than make an enemy. It was ironic though, because as soon as Shin-Ra discovered how the Lifestream and Mako could be harvested for energy, they dropped the gang like a sack of potatoes.

At the time, Zack was too excited about the fact that he was one of the men in charge of the mission to think for too long about how Shin-Ra had gained evidence to prove that the gang from Costa Del Sol was assisting Wutai in the war. But he didn't question his orders, never did. It wasn't his job to bother with the reasoning of the higher-ups and he was so close to making First Class everything else seemed trivial on his mind. So….

If he was an aspiring SOLDIER, why was _he_ the one who had to watch some little girl they had found on the beach of Costa Del Sol?

Running a hand through his raven hair, he muttered, "Let's try this one more time," as he turned around and walked back to the little girl. She had darker skin than anyone native to Midgar, much like a bald Turk he had seen a few weeks ago wearing sunglasses even as he entered Shin-Ra Headquarters, golden hazel eyes and straight black hair pulled into two high ponytails, or at least, they would have had it not been for the rough handling the girl had received in her transportation to Midgar from Costa del Sol. She was clinging tightly onto a plushie of an armored Chocobo, shaking in fear, her alarmed eyes darting around the large hall of the 59th floor.

Her biggest fascination and freight came from the silver elevators in the building. When she had been passed off to Zack from an infantry man he watched her practically run off the elevator as if it were about to fall down the very next second, quickly colliding into the side of his hip bone. She yelped and looked up at him, sizing him up as something to be feared before turning tail and rushing to the elevators once more just as the doors close with the infantry man inside them. She pounded at the metal doors, shouting something in Costan he couldn't understand before trying to pry them open with her own delicate fingers. It was as if she had never seen an elevator before.

Not thinking this was possible, Zack had pulled her back away from them before the doors _did _open and she accidently pounded on the groin of some very important member of the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company's hierarchy. It was then when he had initially tried to talk to her, chuckling and telling her calmly that the elevators were not something to be fear. She merely furrowed her eyebrows and frowned, repeating the phrase, _"No comprendo," _over and over again as he tried to speak. Soon it became clear that she did not understand the Midgar dialect and probably only spoke Costan. So Zack dug around his pockets for a small, hand-held guide to Costan he had been given just before the raid against Costa Del Sol was carried out and walked to the other side of the floor, reading and practicing some assorted pharse under his breath. So far, the most important things he had learned was that the Costan word _me_ stood for 'I' and was pronounced as "meh" rather than the Midgarian word, me. That, and when there were two L's in a word, it was pronounced like a 'y' or a 'j' for people with strong accents.

Walking back to her now, Zack tapped the little girl's shoulder and smiled. She turned around slowly, bringing her plush up to her face to hide from him. He held his large hands out pacifistically. "Easy, easy now. I'm not going to hurt you," he said soothingly before looking back in his book for how to introduce himself. _"Me… me llamo es Zack. Cómo te llamas?" _

The girl sniffled from what Zack guess was either a cold she was getting over, or still being stuffed up from crying during her transportation. _"Hola Zack."_ She spoke softly. _"Soy Marisol."_

"Huh." Zack wasn't sure what _'soy'_ meant so he flipped through his little book until he found it. _"Tú es Marisol?"_ he asked, double checking that was her name. Marisol nodded. Grinning he ruffled her black hair that matched his own. _"Bienvenido a Shin-Ra, Marisol."_

Marisol's eyes widened. "Shin-Ra?" The very word seemed to terrify her. "No! _¡Yo no puedo estar aquí! ¡Shin-Ra es los tipos malos! Quieren dolernos."_ This by far more Costan than Zack could understand. His reading and skimming couldn't keep up with what she was saying, let alone be able to figure out how any of these words were spelt. At one point, she paused and gasped. A new thought seemed to have struck her and she tugged at his clothes, repeating another foreign phrase in a panicked tone. The only word he could make out was _Mami_. That was easy enough. Mami, mommy, mama… clearly she was worrying about something her mother either said or did about her mother herself.

"Calm down, Marisol. I don't understand. Who's your mother?"

* * *

**_"Hell no."_**

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice in the matter, miss." Tseng made sure to catch the young Costan woman's eye. "The executives have made it clear that if you, Myria Delgado, don't wish to be executed by the Shin-Ra Electric Company than you are to sign this agreement—"

_"I'm not joining you're fucked up company!"_ Myria shouted. "And I don't believe you either."

Tseng reached for his PHS cellphone, ready to make the call. If she wasn't willing to lie her compliance and cooperation down for the Company to use as it chose by entering her into their ranks, so be it. "So you would rather face your execution?"

Myria, still confined to the chair, ceased her struggling that had begun at the mention of possibly joining Shin-Ra. She sighed and closed her eyes. "I…. No. But I'm not joining you to bail me out of it."

"I'm afraid that's your only option," Tseng informed her. "You see, if I leave the phone call my superiors are expecting and announce that you are not willing to follow this agreement, as soon as I leave this room, the two guards standing outside will come in and shoot you."

* * *

An annoyed groan escaped the lips of the three-year-old female. Still holding tight to her armored Chocobo plush, Saint, Marisol shook her head in dismay. The man standing in front of her…. There was no way to put her feelings for him lightly. "You're an _idiot!_" she half-shouted at him in Costan. As soon as she did, the man who had introduced himself as Zack began to flip through that small book that seemed to be the root of all their conversational problems. As he repeated, _'Tonto, tonto,_ what does that mean?', she couldn't help but giggle. He was only proving her point.

For some strange reason, he seemed to have the idea that _Jefe_ was her father. That was completely wrong. Jefe was the man who kept everyone in Costa Del Sol safe, until the raid a day or so ago. He was the leader of the 'Little Angels', and yes, even Marisol knew of the gang and their rivals. The gang kept the good Costans safe and punished the bad Costans who would hurt others. Jefe was in charge, and Myria was his second-in-command—they were living together after all, it only made sense. So why Zack seemed obsessed about her being Jefe's daughter was mystery. He didn't even seem to understand it when she had explained that even thought she lived with Jefe and Myria, she wasn't their daughter. Her mother had been Myria's best friend until she died two years ago and Myria was kind enough to take her in and raise her, despite her young age.

"I told you," Marisol repeated with a huff in Costan, "Myria _is_ my mami. But _Jefe_ is her _boyfriend_. Not my father." But Zack didn't seem to catch any of this. He was still consulting his book. He was mouthing something under his breath and then stopped.

"It's not nice to call people stupid," he told her in a broken and terrible attempt at speaking Costan.

"I didn't call you stupid~," she teased. "I said you were an _idiot_, mister."

* * *

"You're sure then?" Tseng asked, flipping open his PHS. Myria didn't say anything. "Very well then…." From across the room, Myria watched him punch in a number he seemed to know by heart and let out a heavy sigh. Her body ached all over for the beating she had received during her interrogation in attempts from the two SOLDIERs to get her to talk. She of course said nothing to them. Quite literally too if one excluded her cries of pain when they seemed to merit that she made a decent punching bag. Not a word about _Los Angelitos_ or their intentions, not a word about any deliveries or activities she had performed with the gang, not a word about her relationship with Jefe and definitely not a word about Marisol. She couldn't afford to let the Company gain that kind of leverage over her. If they found out she had a daughter, adopted or not, they would know that they could twist her any which way they desired because if she did otherwise, there was no doubt in her mind that they would harm the girl. Or worse.

"Understood, Veld. I'll carry the orders out right away." Closing the phone, Tseng looked back at her and stood up. "Any last words, miss?" he asked, slipping the PHS into a breast pocket.

"… …. You better not be messing with me…."

* * *

_"Costan" (coughspanishcough) volcab in this chapter:_

Jefe= boss

_Tonto=Idiot, stupid, moron(ic)_

_Mami= Mommy_

_Los Angelitos= the little Angels_


	2. Settlement

_Oh wow, I didn't think I'd get that many reviews so quickly. Thanks everyone 3 I now present you with chapter two…_

_Disclaimer: I sadly do not own any Final Fantasy VII characters, locations, or any recognizable terms et cetera. The only thing that's my own are my OCs; Myria, Marisol, Jefe, Sylvanna and what other minor people you might come across.  
__Please note: From what I know, the head of the Turks is called Veld in one dub of the games and Verdot in another. In this story, he'll be referred to as Veld._

_

* * *

  
_**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter II: **Settlement

* * *

_"Any last words, miss?" He asked, slipping his PHS back into its resting place inside the breast pocket to his black uniform._

_Myria stayed silent for a few moments before speaking. Finally, her tone betrayed the events of the past hours since the raid and Tseng could now see and hear just how exhausted she actually was. "You better not be messing with me," she answered finally_

Reaching forward for the paper her had given her a few moments ago to essentially, as well as literally, sign her life away to the Company, pulling back towards his body and then slipping it back in the folder that had come with the rag-tag intelligence report about her that he had yet to fully read. Sure, it might have been more beneficial to read through it all but he was busy. He had just come back from Costa Del Sol where, even if she wasn't aware, he had made the suggestion that one miss Myria Delgado would make a practical and valuable addition to one of Shin-Ra's Departments; the Public Safety Maintenance Department in particular. A suggestion that if she choose to take it, would inevitably safe her life. Nodding to her, he left the room with his final words. "I assure you I'm not."

Stepping outside the small room, Tseng surveyed the tight metal hallways of one of the many basements in the Shin-Ra building. Spotting the guards, he called them over. "You are to escort her to the infirmary level and see to it that she given a proper supplement of potions in correlation to her injuries. After that, bring her to the meeting room on the 66th floor—"

"But sir," one of the guards interrupted. "That floor is strictly reserved for the uses of the executives."

"…Which is why you'll meet me outside the elevator. It's been arranged for her to have a private meeting between Heidegger, Veld and myself."

"Then she's been pardoned for her crimes?"

Tseng nodded. For now, at least, the woman was safe. Leaving the guards as they slipped in to collect Myria, he headed towards the ground floor. As his did, his PHS went off from inside his breast pocket. It was Veld, commander of the Turks. "This is Tseng."

"Care to give me an update on our… detainee?"

"She seems as though she's willing to accept the agreement but she insisted on meeting with you and Heidegger before hand." Considering that the Company had sent Tseng to deal with recruiting Myria, it wasn't too bad of a move on her end. However, had it been anyone else they were more than likely going to be by far less persistent in recruiting her and would demand that she make her decision then and there.

"That's good then," Veld answered. "Saves us time. The Vice-President has already sent a draft of proposals of her acceptance into our Department, terms she must follow if her pardon is to remain valid."

Though he couldn't see it, Tseng nodded. "I see."

There was a pause. "You of course will be joining us as my second-in-command?"

"Of course, sir."

"Very well than. I'll speak with you in person shortly."

* * *

It wasn't the best hospitality in the world, but as Myria stood rubbing her wrists in the infirmary, she knew it could be much worse. Her wrists each had a thin yet ragged blood blister around them. At least the metal and wire that had been used to behind her wrists hadn't rubbed them raw. _Kind of feels weird to have them off and be able to move around... _she thought to herself. _Or maybe that's just the pain._ Despite having already been given multiple potions, she felt like she had just been hit by a train. Her head was throbbing from having gotten literally no sleep in the past 36 hours, her knees ached from supporting her weight for so long and her shoulders didn't seem to want to go back to their natural positions after being bound in the chair for hours. She was more stiff and sore than she was in actual pain now. The potions hadn't even healed up her wounds completely, but it dulled the pain to a very tolerable level.

"You'll be needing materia for that," one of the guards said, pointing at her one eye that was so swollen she could barely see out of it. He had been the only guard of the two to actually talk to her like she wasn't some contaminated monster and he held out a bottle of water to her with Shin-Ra's company logo on it for her to see her reflection.

"Ay _d__í__os_… I look like shit," she muttered and raised her fingers to lightly touch her face. She couldn't quite take her sight off the bruises that marred her, in her opinion, once beautiful and flawless skin. Didn't they know that if you were going to hit a lady, you weren't supposed to touch her face? A man could beat into his woman as much as he wanted so long as he never touched her face violently. "Tch." Even the worst of _Los Angelitos_ knew to oblige that rule.

The guard nudged her shoulder gently, wary to where she might be hurting still. "Drink it. You're off to see Heidegger and Veld. You don't want to be caught tongue tied around them."

Myria blinked. "Who?"

"You'll see. Just drink it. It's plain water."

"Thanks…." Myria was careful to observe if the plastic cap cracked or not to show if had been opened before and possible spiked or laced. Taking it from the man, not quite understanding the act of kindness coming from someone who worked for such a cruel Company, a Company she would soon work for as well. _Damn it._ She didn't want to do this. As soon as she signed that document Tseng had presented her with she was an outcast to Costa del Sol. _Una Chingada._ A traitor. Something so ridiculously intolerable back home. You never, **never** ratted out your fellow Angelitos to an outsider. Even if you were feuding, pissed at them or about to knock them off, you always held them above an outsider. Once she signed that paper... if she was ever seen in Costa del Sol again with that uniform Tseng had been wearing, she was screwed, _big time._

Twisting off the bottle cap, Myria took a greedy swig from it. The cool water felt sharp and hot, burning her throat she didn't even acknowledge as being parched on the way down. She swallowed it hard, groaning slightly in discomfort as she did so and ever so slightly rubbing her throat with fingers. Drinking felt foreign, as did breathing afterwards but she knew that she needed to get some water into her system. She chugged the rest of it before laying the empty bottle at her feet.

The guard who had given the water to her nodded at his partner. "Get up," the partner ordered and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her up. She immediately swatted his grip off.

"Let go of me," the woman hissed. "I can walk myself."

"Then get up. You're needed elsewhere now." And with that, the trio made its way outside of the infirmary to the elevators once more, calling it up from the ground floor and then ushering Myria inside. One of the men pressed **66** as the doors closed with a quiet _ding_. Some floors higher, Myria's ears popped as if they were taking off in an airship.

The doors _ding_ed open and Myria stepped out willingly, rather than being pushed out by her entourage. Outside the elevator were class doors with some sort of texture to them that made it impossible to see what was inside of them. Tseng was waiting, standing somewhere between attention and at ease. "I'll take it from here," he told the guards. "Myria, follow me." He turned and swiped a plastic card from a black box sticking out of the wall. A small light on the box turned green and he pushed the door open, holding it open while waving her in. Stepping inside cautiously, she started to follow him wordlessly. "Quickly, we haven't got all night. It's a miracle we even have this opportunity."

"It's nightfall already?!"

"Yes."

"But what about—"

"The girl from the beach?" Tseng paused and looked back to see her nod. "She's fine," he said, continuing to walk once more. "I have a SOLDIER named Zack Fair watching over her in the meantime. Don't worry; he'd never lay a hand on her."

She snorted. "I find _that_ hard to believe."

"Not everyone in this company is as terrible as you think. Here we are. I hope you know what you're getting into."

_So do I._

As Tseng lead her into a large conference room with a long table in the center, Myria noticed two other men seated on one end of the table. The first man she noticed because he wore the same uniform Tseng did; a black zip-up jacket, matching tie, a white shirt underneath those and black slacks. He had short dark brown hair and a bit of a goatee but the most predominant feature on his face were the scar. Particularly a large scar on the left side of his face spanning from the bottom of his that curved up almost to his nose. The stitches that had once held the wound together left scars as well, either that or they had been left in.

The other man seemed to be tall and burly, with short messy black hair and a matching beard that stretched from his cheekbones done to a pointed tip at his chin as well as a large moustache. He was fat and wore a green trench coat of sorts adorned in several medallions with a red scarf underneath the jacket. "So this is our little our little hopeful employee, eh? Gyaa haa haaa. She doesn't look like much to me. I don't think she's quite worth our time or effort." Myria was quick to glare at the man, even though she had already been informed that these men were to be her superiors. They knew very well she didn't want to do this by now, her glares should mean nothing to them.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," the other man dressed like Tseng said as the Wutaiin man walked up from behind Myria and passed the folder off to him. He and Tseng whispered for a few moments, leaving Myria to stand awkwardly with her look of discontent at the men. Tseng nodded and then turned to Myria.

"These men are Heidegger, Head of the Public Safety Maintenance Department, and Veld, Head of the Department of Administrative Research," Tseng announced. "Should you still wish to sign off on the agreements for your pardon, you will begin to work underneath them in the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department of the Shin-Ra Company with me."

"Tseng has already informed us that you seem to be willing to offer Shin-Ra your assistance," Veld continued. "Please keep in mind that this would not be without terms and conditions to reassure your loyalties to the Company."

Myria scowled. "Isn't the threat that if I displease you in any sort of way enough?"

"These conditions have been laid out by the Vice President of this company himself!" Heidegger smirked. "They are none-negotiable and if you cannot oblige and fulfill them, we'll have no choice but to lift your pardon."

"… And just would these conditions be, _sir?_"

"Gyaaa haa haaa. So glad you asked. First and foremost the Vice President has ordered that you are under no circumstance allowed to contact anyone living in Costa del Sol, or any previous gang affiliations without clearance and permission from Mr. Veld or Mr. Tseng. Second, you are not allowed to step foot in Costa del Sol unless ordered by your Department's Head. Third, you are to give Shin-Ra Electric Power Company your undivided loyalty. Anything marked as an act of rebellion shall make this pact null and void. You are also to give Shin-Ra Electric Power Company your complete cooperation. You may not turn down orders, even if asked to throw your life away for the sake of saving a company kitten."

_Company kitten? __What?_

"Is that understood, miss…. What was it now?"

"Myria, sir. Myria Delgado."

"Very well, Myria," Veld cut in. "Do we have ourselves a deal?"

"Let me see the document first." She wasn't about to sign off on it when it could read something completely different from what had just been said. "Thank you."

* * *

_I understand also that should I break any of these terms and conditions or become expelled from the Company for whatever reason, this contract will mean nothing as my pardon only exists __while my employment with Shin-Ra Electric Power Company remains valid.  
__Signed, Myria Delgado_

"That's it then?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Myria shrugged. "No lightning bolts, no smiting, no damnation to hell…. Nothing like that?"

"For joining the Company?" Tseng chuckled. "No. Not quite yet at least."

"So…. Now what?"

"Take the next few days to rest. The company will arrange for you and your daughter to stay in a hotel until we get your housing situation under control. On Tuesday, come in ready for your first formal training. Wear something you can fight in."

"In what clothes? In case you can't recall, Tseng—"

"Sir," he corrected.

She rolled her eyes. _"Tseng._ I was brought here against my will. I haven't got anything for me or Marisol."

"That's all being arranged for," said Tseng, dismissing the manner as the three of them entered the elevator. Marisol clung to Myria's leg, confused, scared and immensely relieved to be near a familiar face, while Myria leaned against the wall of the elevator as they started back down for the ground floor. "If there's anything you need until then, or from your home, you have my number."

"Tch. Like I'm really sending you or your men to do a panty and clothing run."

"Either way, we'll stay in touch with you."

* * *


	3. Welcome to ShinRa

_Disclaimer:_ Again, I do not own FFVII or any related locations, terms, etc. I own solely my OCs and the majority of the plotline.

* * *

**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter III: **Welcome to Shin-Ra

* * *

_I also understand that should I break any of these terms and conditions or become expelled from the Company for whatever reason, this contract will mean nothing as my pardon only exists while my employment with Shin-Ra Electric Power Company remains valid. _

_Signed, Myria Delgado_

True to his word, Tseng had somehow arranged for a room in a hotel located in some place called a Sector 1- or near it at least. He had apologized in a very professional manner about the loud train they had passed on the way and explained that it was the only thing he could manage on such short notice (about a half an hour after Myria had been passed off to the guards to be healed, to be exact). The place was decent, nevertheless. It was much more suave than anything like the barracks the Costan woman had pictured when she thought about employee living conditions.

By their second day of staying in the hotel, Marisol was finally beginning to get over her fear of elevators. She was becoming a bit more adventurous and started asking if she could use the swimming pool on the floor below once "the nice Shin-Ra man" came with clothes for them. Myria highly doubted that Tseng was going to accomplish this any time soon, but at 2 o'clock there came a knock at the door. When the knock wasn't immediately followed by someone saying "House keeping," Myria pushed herself off the bed where she and Marisol had been watching a kid's show on TV. _"I'll be right back,"_ she muttered in Costan to her little girl before tip-toeing to the door. She was in the same clothes she had been in since her home had been raided: a light colored camisole and simple pair of black shorts. It was getting annoying to have to wash and wear the same clothes day after day. Dropping out of Costan and into the language of Midgar she asked, "Who is it?" She received no answer, only a much louder knock.

With an annoyed sigh, she peaked out through the peep-hole on the door and saw a blonde woman standing outside her door in the same uniform that Tseng and Veld had been wearing. "Shit…." She crossed her arms and opened the door just enough to see out, while still blocking the room behind her from this woman's view. "What do you want?"

The woman took in the sight of Myria's bruises and smirked for a moment before pursing her lips into a professional expression. "Clothing and sentiments, as requested," she said. From the way she spoke, Myria knew this wasn't the typical kind of work that she did. The blonde woman didn't seem to enjoy playing gopher either. She gestured beside her and Myria leaned over to see several assorted suitcases and bags that had been lying around her old house.

"Tseng asked me to remind you that your presence is required at work tomorrow. He asked me to escort you to and from work as well as help prepare you for training. Be ready to leave by 5:15 tomorrow morning."

Myria stared at the blonde in disbelief. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"I'm not," replied the woman. "It'll take half an hour to reach Sector 0 on foot from here—"

"What about those cars he had?"

"We're not authorized to use those. You're expected to find your way to work with the same means as any other Shin-Ra employee." She shrugged as if to say, _'Sucks to be you,' _before continuing. "Your shift starts at 6:00 everyday unless told otherwise. Understand?"

Myria snorted. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'll be your peer and one of your mentors for the time being. And, if I might offer you some advice, I suggest you learn some respect. Not all of the other Turks are going to be as tolerant of receiving your attitude. Keep in mind, you're a rookie. You don't have the right to—"

"Excuse me. I—"

_"I _think you should let me finish, Myria." The blonde woman mimicked Myria's posture, crossing her arms and glaring at her with deep blue eyes. "I'm only trying to help you. You should be a bit more grateful." Still glaring, she reached into a pocket inside her black jacket and pulled out a silver and black cell phone. "I trust you know the model?" she asked, holding it out to Myria.

"PHS. Yeah, I know it."

"Good. This is one of the Company's models. It's already programmed to have all the numbers you'll need for now in it." As the other woman spoke, Myria took the phone, flipping it open and scrolling through the contact list, effectively ignoring the other woman. Starting from the end of the list and going up, she read the names to herself. Veld, Tseng, Rude, Rin, Reno , Nora and Headquarters, to name a few. The only ones she recognized were Tseng and Veld's name.

"I'm assuming this is a don't-call-us-we'll-call-you scenario?"

"Unless you're checking in or reporting to Tseng or Veld, that is correct." Myria nodded faintly. "Now, if you don't have any other questions…."

Cocking her head to the side, Myria looked up from the PHS. "Not even gonna tell me your name?"

"That's not necessary right now," said the blonde, shaking her head. "Ma'am will suffice."

_Yeah, like I'm really calling you that, _Myria thought. As the blonde woman turned and leave, she went down the list of contacts. There were five names she assumed were female. That meant a twenty percent chance of getting it right. Stopping on the name _Nora_, she pressed the green TALK button and brought the phone silently to her ear. A few moments later, she heard a cell phone go off. The blonde woman stopped walking and reached into her pocket, pulling out a matching black phone.

"Hello?" The sound echoed in Myria's ear from her phone. "Who is this?"

Smirking, the Costan chuckled. "No one special, _Nora_."

"Myria? How—?" Nora turned around with the phone still to her ear. Seeing Myria with her new PHS to her ear, Nora frowned and snapped her own phone shut. With that, she turned around with a huff, waiting for the elevator to arrive.

* * *

The next morning, Myria found herself rudely awaken by the telephone. Groping around in a half-awake stupor, she found out that Shin-Ra was, in fact, quite persistent. It was as if they knew that she was already planning how much she could make everyone else as miserable with this agreement as she was without getting herself in trouble. No matter the reason, it was her wake up call and she heaved herself out of the bed. Still sleeping, Marisol rolled into the warm spot her eighteen year old guardian left behind in the bed and curled up under the covers.

_This is for her,_ she reminded herself as she looked down at the girl. From her tan skin, to her brown curls, Marisol was very much the cause for any major action or judgment call Myria had made in the past to years. _I have to keep her safe… for your sake, my friend._ It was what she had to do. _It's what I owe you._

Myria could live with being a traitor, being _una chingada_, and she could live with the shame it would bring, but she could never live if she somehow hurt the little girl. One of the final things that Tseng had brought up to rope her into signing the deal was Marisol; if she had accepted her execution, the little girl would have no one to take care of her. She was the daughter of one of Shin-Ra's enemies and would either be left to die on the streets or taken in for "whatever uses the Company might find suitable". She had heard the stories and knew of the rumors about scientists that were beginning to slip through the cracks. Never would the Costan woman ever condemn a child to such a fate, especially the child of her best friend.

Letting out a quiet sigh as she pulled on a pair of gray sweatpants, Myria rolled her shoulders as she wondered what sort of boot camp she was going to get tossed in. Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind, there came a knock at the door. _No way she has the gall to show up fifteen minutes early..._

The sound made Marisol stir. "Mami? Is something happening?" The small girl sat up and started to rub her eyes.

"Go back to sleep," Myria instructed softly as she reached for the door.

"Where are you going? Myria…?"

"To work. I'll be back later."

"When?"

Another round of knocking. "Later." Before pulling down the doorknob, Myria double-checked that she had her PHS in her pocket. She started to rant as soon as she opened it. "Nora, if you think I'm really going to deal with this fifteen whole minutes before I have to…." Her voice trailed off as her dark chocolate eyes focused on a male figure at her door. "You're not Nora…" she muttered. It was either that or Nora had suddenly undergone a sex change, because the young man in front of her did faintly resemble the woman from earlier- short blonde hair that rolled into loose curls with ocean blue eyes.

The man laughed. No, maybe he wasn't really a man. With his childish face, he looked much more like a boy. "Ha, ha. Nope~. But you must be pretty special if you know her already," he said with a grin.

Blinking, Myria stared at him in confusion. He was dressed in the same uniform all the other Turks she had seen thus far, but he looked to young to be a Turk. "Who…?"

"Whoops, did I forget to introduce myself?" He chuckled. "Name's Jayden, I'm a newbie just like you!" Having barely heard him speak for a minute, Myria could already tell she disliked him. He was one of those people who smiled in the early morning without coffee and was cheery about everything, she could tell.

"….Where's Nora?"

"Nora? Boss sent her off on some big mission. All hush-hush, you know what I'm saying? Ah, you just started, of course you don't know what I'm saying." Scratching his head sheepishly, he shrugged. "Anyway, I'll be hangin' with ya for some time and doing all the stuff she was supposed to do with you. 'Sides, the earlier we get there, the longer the shift lasts, right? That means more fun and adventure for us in the long run…."

What kind of logic was _that?_ If she had the choice, she would be as late as humanly possible….

"Plus you're, like, complete fresh meat!" Jayden exclaimed. "You don't even know who _I _am—"

Frowning slightly, Myria responded, "You're Jayden."

_"Wow!_ You really must be someone special! How'd you know that?"

_Is he serious?_

"But I bet you don't know who you're senior officers are, right?" He took her annoyed silence as a 'yes'. "Well first there's Tseng—"

"I know him."

"Yeah he mentioned somethin' about recruiting you…. Guess you know Veld too, huh? Hiediegger?"

"Unfortunately." She wasn't sure what was more unfortunate—knowing the people that he had mentioned or being stuck with him.

He didn't seem to pick up on the disdain in her voice. "But I betcha ya don't know who Reno or Rude are, or The Legend, am I right?" He didn't even wait for her response. He glanced at a watch at his wrist and ogled about how late it was getting, grabbed her wrist and started to pull her away. When she tried to pull back, she found that he was unbelievably strong for someone so scrawny looking, and within half an hour, she found herself starting down the business end of the headquarters to the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company.

Or, buildings rather, as there were a dozen or so buildings and possible mako reactors surrounding the building.

"It's… huge…." she whispered. Jayden just chuckled and began pointing out what all of the buildings were. She could barely keep up with half of it. They all looked the same to her.

"But the only one you're going to have to worry about is this one," Jayden concluded. "This is the actual _official_ HQ. Or, at least it will be. There's a lot of stuff still under construction because we're changing Headquarters. Anyway, follow me." He led her inside, walking past a secretary who appeared to be selling potions as well, and to the elevators. Pressing the _up_ button, the door immediately _ping_ed open. "We're going to the 61st floor," he announced. "But we gotta make a pit stop at 59 first. Keycards and all that, you know."

But she didn't know. Myria was already beginning to feel overwhelmed just at the idea of how many people could be in this one building with over sixty floors. And each employee was more than likely willing to turn her in to Hiediegger at a moment's notice if she made a mistake.

* * *

"Boss mentioned you liked guns. 'S that the weapon you're gonna wanna use?"

Stepping inside the small room behind Jayden, Myria just rolled her eyes. "Tch. Like you'd guys would really trust me with one," she grumbled under her breath.

Jayden blinked. "What? Why wouldn't we trust a willful employee?"

She stared. _He… doesn't know?_ No…. He was pulling her leg… wasn't he? Or, did Tseng not spread the word that, given it was with the help of a gun, she was able to take down two Second Class SOLDIERs? "I… I mean, I am the new guy, aren't I?" she spit out quickly, not knowing what else to say. Her instinct to lie was terribly strong. "How do you know I can handle a gun properly?"

"Well…. Tseng said he saw you in action…. You mean you really don't know how to pull a trigger and shoot?"

"No—it's just….. Never mind. Guns are my specialty." She figured that should just save some face. And who cared if this happy-go-lucky brat found out she killed two power blocks anyway? He'd be afraid of her and that would only help her.

Grinning, Jayden gestured for her to follow him down another corridor. "A few of us prefer guns actually. Longer distance means a safer fighting range and you don't have to stick your neck out too far to get a job done. Unfortunately for you though, both Nora and Zeke use revolvers plus the old new girl claimed dibs on a really nice shotgun. The company wants diversity in our weapons so we can't be wiped out by one weakness." He chuckled to himself and ruffled his own blonde curls. "What's your pleasure? Rifles, sniper rifles, ah, bazooka isn't really an option for anyone but MPs…. But we got machine guns and—"

"Handguns," Myria decided. To her, and to her now slaughtered gang, there was nothing more value. Easy to use, simple for drive-bys, easy to conceal, effective- plus it was a model she was already familiar with. "Got any?"


	4. Of Rookies and Terrorists

_Disclaimer:_ Again, I do not own FFVII or any related locations, terms, etc. I own solely my OCs and the majority of the plotline. Thank you to Gunshot Romance for the translations of the _Before Crisis _video game. So as a side, note, the next few chapters are spoilers if you haven't played that game. Lots of thanks & love to Rebellious Turk who is my -cough-slave-cough- beta.

* * *

**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter IV: **Of Rookies and Terrorists

* * *

_"What's your pleasure? Rifles, sniper rifles, ah, bazooka isn't really an option for anyone but MPs…. But we got machine guns and—"_

_"Handguns," Myria decided. To her, and to her now slaughtered gang, there was nothing more value. Easy to use, simple for drive-bys, easy to conceal, effective, plus, it was a model she was already familiar with. "Got any?"_

It had taken awhile —several beat downs, one broken finger, countless bullet-ridden paper targets, infinite bruises and two tackles, to be exact— before the Company deemed Myria "worthy" to do anything for them other than play punching bag. For Marisol, it was a very long two weeks. Myria had yet to find any permanent residence for the two of them, but each night she swore she would find a nice apartment the next day. That was usually said after Myria kicked off her shoes in the doorway to their hotel room and did a belly flop onto their bed. Work, it would seem, was getting the best of her. _"Mami,"_ Marisol whined as Myria made her way over to bed one night. "I want to do something _fun._"

Her eighteen year old guardian sighed heavily before dropping her weight onto the bed the toddler was sitting on, causing Marisol to bounce briefly into the air. "Watch television," Myria groaned as she pulled a pillow close to her face and nuzzled into it. Marisol frowned and grabbed onto the pillow. "Let go," the eldest warned quietly.

"No." The young girl started to lean backwards and tried to pull it away.

"Let me sleeeep."

"No! You haven't played with me at all since we came here!"

Pushing her face harder into the pillow to try and keep her toddler from stealing it, Myria closed her eyes. "We didn't _come_ here, _niña, _we were _taken_ here. Against our will. Now give me my pillow or else."

"But I'm _bored_."

"Watch TV."

"But I'm _hungry_."

"You know how to use the microwave. Make yourself something."

"But I want chicken and fried rice, with that spicy stuff you put in it and—"

_"Marisol!"_ Her mother's sudden shout made the girl jump. Usually, Myria was patient with her and she would spoil the younger girl. But now…

"Please, Marisol, I'm_ begging _you. I'll play with you tomorrow but please, let me sleep—I have to be ready to patrol Sector 8 in six hours."

This bit of information caught the young girl's interest. She let go of the pillow and nudged her mother gently on the back. "A job?" Marisol asked curiously. She could hear Myria chuckle.

"A mission," the woman corrected. "To… help keep everyone safe."

"Like what Jefe did back home…."

Myria couldn't help but grimace. Fortunately though, the pillow blocked her sour expression. "Yes," she said, after a few moments. "Just like what Jefe did…."

* * *

By the time her alarm rang at, Myria rolled out of the bed on autopilot. She had been used to not getting a lot of sleep back in Costa del Sol but not because she had to wake up to work; all of the best parties were just heating up at this time. But waking up at this god forsaken hour… "There better not be a crisis," she muttered as she groped around in the dark for her fresh, crisp, new uniform she had received only yesterday.

_"It makes us both official!"_ Jayden cheered when he saw her carrying the large cloth bag. He might act like a kid, but she had found out personally that he knew a lot about how to deal damage to an opponent. Any bruises or injuries she got on her hands were from his nunchaku weapons, which were made of two wooden handles attached to a thick metal chain. He didn't seem all that dangerous when she first met him, but her left middle finger (which was in still in a splint to heal) had taught her otherwise.

Glancing back at Marisol's sleeping figure, Myria tucked the small girl back under the covers before taking a cold shower to wake up and then getting dressed. She was ready in twenty minutes, giving her just enough time to make it over to Sector 8 by 2:15. Almost as soon as she reached the Sector, her PHS rang.

"Myria," she announced in a dull voice.

On the other end of the phone was Tseng. "These are your orders: you're to patrol Sector 8. This is standard work for all new Turks. It's company tradition. Your seniors- Rude and Reno, and even myself- started off with this work."

"So you want me bring in any suspicious characters causing trouble?"

Tseng started to say something but he cleared his throat. "This Sector is fairly peaceful, so I doubt you'll run into any big problems."

"Tch. Sounds like a bore…."

"You're not the first to do this. Look at this work as you would a real mission. This job should get you used to your future duties- ones where there will actually be risks."

She didn't quite buy the idea that you could do anything in a Turk uniform and not be at risk. "And should a problem arise?"

"There's another rookie who has been on call since two. If anything happens, the two of you will rendezvous. You'll both be reporting back to me regardless of what happens. Understood?"

Myria sighed. It was going to be a long graveyard shift. "Roger; leave Sector 8 to me." She snapped her cell phone shut and slipped it into her jacket's breast pocket. Behind her cell rested her brand new Shin-Ra Employee ID card. She jammed her hands in her pants pocket and started walking around. There was a slight chill in the air and the fact that she had two metal handguns tucked into a belt holster at her waist did nothing to warm her up.

After a few minutes of glancing around the empty streets, she saw that she was the only one there. All the shops were closed and the people were tucked safely away in their beds. There was also a feral looking cat sleeping on the sidewalk a half a dozen yards ahead of her. Without reason, it suddenly woke up with a jolt and took off running. It was odd, but not quite a reason to cause alarm- yet.

* * *

"Veld, sir!" It was rumored amongst the Turks that Tseng was a vampire, or at the very least some other creature of the night that required little or no sleep. He certainly was not going to receive any tonight. Opening the door to Veld's office, he repeated his commander's name until the older man looked up. There surprisingly wasn't any worry or urgency in his voice as he informed Veld of the status of Sector 8. "There seems to be a disturbance within Sector 8. There have been reports of men threatening to attack the Company."

Veld looked up, face betraying no emotions as he asked, "And has this been looked into?"

Tseng breathed in slowly. "We have two operatives on sight. One of our newest recruits was the one to inform me of the threats."

"What of the other? Who else is there?"

"Myria Delgado, the one from Costa."

"She has been informed of the situation?"

Tseng tensed. He had hoped this wouldn't come up. "No, sir," he replied quietly.

"No?" Veld questioned, eyes narrowed. "Tseng, if there is any threat against this company, no matter how insignificant it may seem, there needs to be more than one _rookie _looking into it."

"Yes, sir." Tseng tried to maintain eye contact with his superior, though it was hard to while getting reprimanded.

"What do we know so far?"

"Not much," Tseng answered honestly. "They appear to be some sort of organized group. The numbers seem small, but we haven't found their exact location as of yet."

Veld nodded. "I'm not comfortable with two newcomers handling this situation. Keep me informed and see is you can get someone else in there to act as support."

"Sir." Tseng bowed his head and excused himself.

Outside of Veld's office, he hit the speed dial for Myria- a feature he had installed for all of the Turks. When the ringing ended, he cut straight to the chase. "Have you been attacked yet?"

From the other end of the phone, he could hear Myria make a sound like she was amused. "Not yet, boss."

He would correct her on how to address him later. "Have seen any of the terrorists?"

"What terrorists?" she hissed. "Damn it! This was a set up from the start wasn't it? That's why you have me up at this god forsaken hour when there'll be no witness. You're gonna do me off anyway-"

Myria—"

"_Asshole, _I signed your damn paper. I said I'd join your fruit cake fleet—"

"Myria! This isn't a set up," Tseng snapped into the phone. "There's a group that might be trying to attack the Company. Get to the Mako Reactor as fast as you can."

"I'm near the theater, which way?"

"North-East. Capture anyone involved and try and get information from them."

From the other end of the phone, Myria took a deep breath. "Roger that. I'm on my way," she announced before snapping her phone shut.

After Tseng's call, Myria broke out into a run towards the Mako reactor, unclasping her gun holsters as she went. While this was the last place on Gaia she wanted to be, she knew her hide was tanned if she messed up. Complete compliance meant she couldn't refuse a mission. Even if she _might_ die now she was _guaranteed_ to die if the Company disliked what she did.

As she near what she assumed was the Mako reactor- or at least what she assumed was the reactor, as she had never actually seen one- she could hear people shouting. No, that wasn't true. First she heard an explosion and smoke began to rise from the reactor's front _then_ she heard the shouting.

_"The Turks!"_ For a moment, she thought her cover was blown and she pulled out one handgun, whipping around to see that whoever shouted that was not next to her. There was a group of men in dark brown military uniforms complete with berets and goggles covering their eyes several feet away. Most of them carried rifles.

"We're not letting you through," another man declared. "There's no getting out."

Glancing out from behind a building, Myria tried to see who they were crowding around. One man moved to make room for another rebel and she could see that the other Turk Tseng had told her about was getting circled. His or her back was to her, but she could make out a red circular weapon in his or her hand and auburn hair.

"We're not letting you get away with this, Shin-Ra traitor! Don't think you're getting out of here alive!"

That was it. Raising her gun she took a rough aim at a rebel who was off to the side, far enough from the second Turk to not worry about hitting her comrade. She let off three shots into the rebel's side as quick as she could. Two hit his torso and one went through his neck.

_"What the hell was that?"  
_  
The entire group turned, and three rebels to look at who had fired at their fallen ally. "Shin-Ra scum," they repeated before taking aim at Myria who was already running towards them, firing towards their legs. The men each shot once or twice before one went down from Myria's bullets and the other looked like they had been whacked upside the head.

"Get away from me!" The last standing rebel shouted before turning around to face his nearest foe—the Turk Myria had come to the rescue of. As he began to fire, the second Turk threw their weapon at the rebel, knocking the rifle out of the man's hands.

"Who are you?" the other Turk demanded. Myria could see, now that she was closer, that her ally was a young woman with a surprisingly soft and sweet sounding voice. "What are you trying to accomplish?"

Wide eyed, the rebel quickly shook his head. "D-down with Shin-Ra!" he shouted as he turned tail and began to run off. The auburn haired Turk immediately began to pursue him when Myria grabbed her by the arm.

"What are you doing?!" the captive Turk demanded.

"Tseng's orders were to protect the rector," Myria stated simply.

"And they were also to get information." The other woman scowled and crossed her arms. "How old are you anyway? Fifteen? You're just a _kid._" While Myria didn't acknowledge or recognize it, there was a hint of concern in the woman's voice. Her brown eyes glowed sympathetically, as if she knew the whole story behind the Costan's enlistment.

"Eighteen," Myria corrected with a voice filled of Costan pride. She glanced at the brunette skeptically. "You don't look much older. How old are _you?_"

"Now, now, it's not polite to ask a lady her age, is it?"

"I'll let you know when I see one." Myria smirked.

The other woman looked like she was about to say something back when both of their PHS phones went off.

"Tseng?" the girl answered.

"This is really important," Tseng began, "so I want you both to pay close attention! The entrance to the reactor's underground entrance has been blasted open—"

"No shit," the Costan snorted. She couldn't see what had gone off in the explosion as she arrived but it was either a secret entrance or the organization was creating their own.

The light skinned woman looked appalled at how Myria was speaking to a superior. "It's my fault, sir," she apologized. "I got overwhelmed, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about that right now, Cissnei. Now listen to me, the intruders are aiming for the reactor itself. Stop them from reaching it." Both women nodded.

"Roger."

"Yes sir."

Closing her phone, Myria glanced at the other woman. "Cissnei, is it?"

The woman smiled. "That's what they call me. I take it you're my back up then?"

Laughing, the Costan shook her head. "No, no, Cissnei. I'm not your back up—you're my meat shield."


	5. Reno

_Disclaimer:_ Again, I do not own FFVII or any related locations, terms, etc. I own solely my OCs and the majority of the plotline. And Rebellious Turks owns the definition of awesomeness.

* * *

**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter V: **Reno

* * *

_Closing her phone, Myria glanced at the other woman. "Cissnei, is it?"  
The woman smiled. "That's what they call me. I take it you're my back up then?"  
Laughing, the Costan shook her head. "No, no, Cissnei. I'm not your back up—you're my meat shield."_

By now the two women had made a few discoveries. Myria had learned that her supply of bullets was _not_ infinite and that if she was going to make it through this night, she had better ration them out and opt for hitting them with her gun as hard as she could any rebel forces if she could. Cissnei learned that it was better for them to tag-team rebels back to back rather than risk getting overwhelmed by fighting on two separate spots just outside the Mako reactor. And both women were quickly learning what it _really_ meant to be out numbered.

At first it had only been six rebels carrying many different weapons, including swords, knives, chains, even shovels,that had managed to surround them. But the moment one rebel was defeated, two more came to take the place of the first.  
"There are six more of them," Cissnei huffed. At the moment, she was standing behind Myria. Her large red shuriken lay on the ground a yard away where she had thrown it, disabling a rebel but also putting it out of reach before they were surrounded.

"Yeah, I can see that." Myria's ears were still ringing from all the shots she had fired and from Cissnei screaming in her ear every time she shot the rebels that they had to gather information from them, and they couldn't do that if the rebels bled out. Myria reminded her, as calmly as she could, that they couldn't gather information if they were _dead_.

Myria took a step backwards as another wave neared them. It was the sheer number of the opposing force and the fact that they weren't coming slowly that was wearing her out. "What chu gonna do, girlie?" a rebel taunted her. "Chu can't shoot twelve at us at once. Why dun cha give me the gun and we can set chu back on your way, eh?" That was perhaps the reason that neither of them had received much bodily harm; while the first groups Cissnei had described were absolutely murderous, this group seemed to be a bit more passive.

"Screw that," another rebel said before lunching forward with a sword in hand.

"Watch out!" Pushing Cissnei further back against the wall, Myria attempted to block the sword with her gun. There was a terrible clanging sound as the two metals hit, echoing in the quiet of the night like a referee's gun to signal the start of a race- or in this case, the start of an attack.

* * *

"Be careful," Cissnei warned as Myria shoved her back. Never in her life had she felt so completely useless. Her only weapon lay so close but so very far at the same time because she had made an amateur mistake. True, she could be considered an amateur because she had joined the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company's forces two months ago- making her the most experienced of the rookies- but she liked to think she was beyond that all. She knew better. She should have anticipated another attack following the first but now….

Now it didn't quite matter. Now a rookie, on her first day judging by the mission assignment to guard Sector 8, was fending off rebels because Cissnei hadn't thought she needed those Martial Arts lessons Rude had offered her last week. Letting out a yelp and ducking as a shovel soared over her head, she barely even realized there was a new face on the scene that had dropped two rebels in one swing.

"Hey, rookie! Looks like you've gotten yourself into quite a mess on your first day, huh?"

That voice…. She knew that voice…. "Reno?!" she exclaimed, looking around for the senior Turk. Spotting his wild red hair and black suit against a sea of brown clothed rebels, she let out a sigh of relief before remembering something. "I thought you had orders," she called. The rebel with the shovel came at her again and she kicked him in the stomach as hard as she could, taking advantage of the heels she was wearing.  
"I've been called in to be your support," he answered. "Don't worry about it, Ciss." Turning to face Myria, he gave her an acknowledging nod. "All right, rookie – let's finish this up as quick as possible!" With that, he quickly led Myria into the fight, striking down rebels at a speed that seemed outrageous. He struck at their neck, ducking down to avoid getting hit. She couldn't tell if he was just knocking them out or if he was snapping their necks. There was too much noise to follow.

When she finally did see a gap, she jumped up and ran through it, shoving down rebels on either side of her as she retrieved her Shuriken. By the time she grabbed it and fought her way back into the group, Reno was shouting over to Myria trying to explain how to use Materia. She was focusing too much on trying to figure out which dial on her gun activated the Materia that she didn't notice a rebel with a knife sneaking up on her. "Myria, your back!" Cissnei shouted.

The Costan woman blinked and turned around, firing off a round and yelping when she saw that once it made contact, there seemed to be an electrical surge that ran over him. It passed though the nearby rebels, and almost hit Reno as well.

_"Are you trying to kill me?"_ he shouted. "Don't use lightning with allies in such close range!" Cocking his arm back, he forced his Electro Magnetic Rod down hard on the face of the last rebel, making a sickening crack that made Cissnei grimace. The other two Turks seemed to be unaffected by it. _"Especially _when they're practically holding a lighting rod in their hands," he finished.

Myria didn't even apologize. Her eyes were set on another alley where more rebels were spewing out. "We've got company."

"They just keep coming," Reno marveled. "Is there no end to them?"

Cissnei frowned. _At this rate they'll overrun us all and make it to the reactor. They'll take most of the Sector with them if it blows…_

"Alright then rookies…" Reno turned and glanced back at the two young women. "You two go on ahead; I'll take care of these guys."

"But—"

"Don't worry about it Cissnei, I'll catch up with you in no time. Now get to it."

"Yes sir." Surprisingly, these words did not come from Cissnei.

Cissnei had to look quizzically at Myria. It made no sense that she was suddenly giving Reno- the Turk that was infamous for his promiscuity and lazy attitude- more respect that she had to Tseng. Then again, he certainly acted disrespectful towards a lot of people at the Company as well. Maybe kind truly does know kind and she could sense he wasn't going to shove a rule book down her throat like Veld would. But it was dangerous to act like that, especially in situations like this one.

"Be careful," she begged before turning and entering the Mako reactor where the underground entrance had already been blown open.

Inside, there was a path that Myria was already going down. Cissnei followed close behind until they reached a T where the hall spilt. Without missing a beat, Myria took the left path. "I'll go this way, you go that way," she announced firmly.

Having no objections to splitting up, Cissnei obeyed but she couldn't shake the idea that Myria had just resembled Veld in the way she gave those orders. A minute of eerie silence followed until it was broken by her PHS ringing again. The sound echoed in the empty hall and she scrambled to pick it up before anyone else heard it.

"Cissnei here," she whispered, trying to keep a low profile.

"They're after the reactor. They're going to try to breach the main passage to the reactor by blasting through it—"

"What? How—"

Tseng cut her off. "Stop them at any cost!"

"Roger!" She rounded a corner, and her eyes widened at the sight before her. A dozen rebel soldiers were running down another path that resembled a T.

"It's the Turks! Bring in reinforcements!"

"Down with Shin-Ra!" she heard a female voice shout. As Cissnei raced down the hallway, she managed to catch the tail end of the mob and tossed her Shuriken as hard as she could into the back of a rebel. He let out a cry of pain as he doubled over, writhing to get it out. She was faster. She jumped onto his back and twisted the blade inside his flesh once in each direction before pulling it out as a few rebels pulled out of the line.

She didn't bother finishing him off. If there was one thing she had learned from listening to senior Turks like Rude, Reno and Tseng, it was that it was much more efficient to wound the enemy only to the point where he was incapacitated. If you killed him, you only took one enemy off the field, but if you wounded him, two more would come to drag him off, eliminating three foes.

In the background, there were gunshots as two rebels charged her while shouting, "Take this, you Shin-Ra dog!" and "Down with Shin-Ra!" A woman came at her with a knife. Cissnei brought her Shuriken up, jabbing it into the upper arm of the rebel before pulling it towards her body, tearing open the arm until she reached the wrist, the rebel screaming all the way. Pulling her weapon out, the brunette didn't even bother to look back on the female rebel as she slammed the blunt side of her red throwing star against another rebel's nose, cutting the sides of his cheeks as well. The second rebel stepped back, dropping whatever weapon he had and grabbing at his now broken nose. She saw that the two men had two choices; either they were both going to chase her, or they were going to try and save their comrade from bleeding to death.

Running in the same direction the insurgents had, Cissnei prayed for the latter. Eventually she could hear evidence of another person within the same hallway as herself. _Another renegade,_ she thought with a frown. They weren't just dealing with a bunch of rowdy townspeople anymore—they were dealing with an entire organization. Bracing for another fight, she raised her Shuriken to her chest. She was posed and ready to strike when she recognized her 'attacker'.

"Don't shoot!" she shouted.

* * *

Myria pushed stray bangs out of her face with her hand as she sighed. "I've stopped them from setting up the bomb," she reported to her phone. She felt exhausted. It seemed like every other turn had led to a new group of rebels. By the time she reached the end and had finally found a door that lead to the heart of the reactor, she was sure she was going to be deaf by tomorrow morning. Her already ringing ears were now pounding in her head, echoing the sounds of the entire magazine she had emptied upon entering the reactor. One handgun was completely empty and the other couldn't have more than three quarters left in the clip. While she had managed to do enough damage without taking too much herself to get to the room with the bomb, her luck ran out when the two men in charge of it turned on her. One of them sunk a blade into her arm a few times.

_Doesn't look too deep,_ she thought to herself as Tseng congratulated her from the other end of the one. But that didn't mean didn't hurt. She had too much to worry about to complain about her arm right now.

"You've helped avert what could have been a disaster," said Tseng. Myria snorted. She hadn't _helped_ avert a crisis, she had averted it _completely_. "Come back to HQ with Reno," he instructed before hanging up.

"Yes sir." Funny thing was, Reno hadn't made it to her after all. _Maybe I was quicker than I thought… _It certainly didn't seem like it though. Outside, when he had joined up in the fight with her and Cissnei, he moved and fought like a professional. The way he fought… Now that man had _seen_ unspeakable things in his life. He had seen what really happened to flesh and bones that were pushed to their limit.

There was no mistaking that when she watched him fight; the subtle attitude of not caring what you had to do to get yourself out of a mess alive, the muscle memory to go straight for the kill zones on a body—she could learn a thing or two from him. And here she had been sure that she had seen it all with her gang.

Before she knew it, she had nearly walked into Cissnei. "Don't shoot!" the soft eyed woman shouted, holding out her hands passively.

Myria laughed. "I think I can tell the difference between one of them and one of us."

Cissnei sighed softly. "Can't be too safe. You seemed a little trigger happy back—ah! Your head…." She pointed gingerly at the blood on the teenager's forehead.

"This?" Myria wiped it away with her black sleeve. "Ha, nah this is from my arm… See?" She turned to the left to show her injured arm, making sure to point the gun away from her fellow Turk. "That's why I had it up in the air—to keep the blood from pouring out. Above the heart, you know?"

Cissnei just looked on horrified. Myria couldn't be sure if it was because of how calmly she was speaking of the cuts in her flesh or the actually wounds themselves. "You make one lousy meat shield, by the way," the teen added offhandedly. She wedged the handgun between her non-injured arm and body, reaching back at her waist for the second one and a fresh magazine of bullets. Cissnei didn't seem to appreciate the humor as Myria brushed by, reloading her gun. She just stood still for a few moments before following after her.

"You need to put pressure on it. The blood—"

"Already stopped it from bleeding," Myria cut in as she stepped over one body. She took a few more steps before pausing at one body and carefully avoiding stepping in the blood pool around it. "Could have been worse, I suppose," she called over her shoulder. "I— You… you don't have a gun on you, do you?"

Blinking, Cissnei walked over. "No…. Just this." She waved her free hand at her Shuriken. She could see that the other woman had now covered her mouth and had picked up her pace, trying to get away from one body as quickly as possible. A few steps further and Cissnei could see what she had run away from—the body of the woman whose arm she had cut open. Someone had either shot her in the throat multiple times or had stabbed her throat. Looking at it made Cissnei a bit queasy herself, but Myria had been alright with all of the other wounds they had seen tonight.

_I wonder why __this one was different?_ Cissnei didn't have much time to think because suddenly she heard shouting up ahead.

* * *

_"It's nothing against you, my friend, just good business. You understand."_

_"Just... good business...__? O__h god, please don't—"_

Just good business.

Just good business.

The phrase pounded Myria in the head like a sledgehammer. It burned and it sliced, it tore and it tried everything possible to echo the images of the torn throat like the opening credits of a film. She found herself practically stumbling out of the Mako reactor. _That_ had hit too close to home, both literally and figuratively. She knew there would be deaths, kills, gore and all that which she had already grown accustomed to by the time she was fourteen and a half. But never once did she think she would see something so similar—it threw her completely off guard.

She took a greedy breath of the night air. The simple act of inhaling twisted and turned into a pant. She wasn't aware of her surroundings in the slightest. It wasn't until she heard shouting that she opened eyes that she hadn't even noticed were closed.

It was Reno. "Get out of here, rookie!" he shouted, turning back to glance at her distressed form. "This guy's trouble."

She heard the attacker before she saw him. "You're finished," another voice hissed. There was a whirl of unrecognizable colors and then Myria found herself gripping tightly onto the metal of the reactor's doorframe as he neared Reno. She didn't have time to react before the reds and black of her senior Turk were suddenly dropping to the ground.

_"Reno!"_ she had meant it as a warning call for him to turn around but it had come too late. He was down and he wasn't getting up or moving.

"You're next," the attacker declared. Maybe it was because of the lack of sleep or because her mind was not in its proper place, but she couldn't wrap her head around what the attacker looked like. Tall, brooding, male with a lethal look in his eyes.

_Run._ That was what her instincts first told her. _Run and get as far away as you can. Don't look back. Run all the way home._ But her legs weren't working right. She was running but she was stumbling. He was going to catch her and—_ Shoot!_ her mind screamed. _Use your fucking gun!_

She had to look down and see it in her hand before it clicked in her mind that the metal handgun _was,_ in fact, a weapon she could use against this man. Without further hesitation, she raised it high enough so that she could take aim and fire off three rounds. Three bullets escaped; each one an icy blue color. For a moment, each bullet seemed to track and follow the attacker.

"You're gun's color coded," Reno had explained to her earlier while he side stepped an attacking rebel. Cissnei had gone off to retrieve her weapon, leaving Myria and Reno to deal with the surrounding rebels. "The yellow and blue settings on the dial on the barrel will let you use your Materia; blue for tracking Blizzard bullets and yellow for Lightning ones which will zap surrounding targets once they make contact. Let's see what you can make of it, rookie." That was about the time that she had nearly struck him with Materia enhanced bullets. Judging by how he had yelped at her for nearly hitting him, Myria was sure they should be able to do some damage to her attacker now.

But they weren't.

He was side-stepping everything and in a moment's time he seemed to have slid in front of her. At point-blank range, she fired and he pushed the gun out of her hands with little effort. Not knowing what else to do, she jumped backwards.

"So you can fight," he chuckled. Her honey colored eyes darted around, looking for an exit. "But playtime's over," he continued. "I'll make you regret having anything to do with Shin-Ra!"

She could see the murderous intent in his eyes. Groping blindly at her waist, she found her second gun and took aim at his head. Pulling back on her trigger, she heard a terrible sound—a mechanical click. Not a bang from a shot, and not a mute shot because she had gone deaf. "Fuck." It had jammed. A simple .22 caliber bullet lay wedged halfway outside the barrel and halfway in. _"Damn. __It."_ He was practically on top of her now, leaving her no time to react as her body was forced downward, falling. When she hit the ground, she felt as though a truck had just hit her. With the wind knocked out of her, she lay on her back gasping for air like a fish out of water. _He's strong._ It was an odd thing to marvel but she couldn't help it. _Like Jefe. Who _is_ he?_

"You take care of these Turks here," she heard the attacker say. He was talking to someone now. "They're just about finished anyway."

Footsteps. Someone was leaving now. Someone was getting closer. "Gotta kill these two quickly and get back to Junon…"

Myria scowled. "Jeez…. Right in front of me?" she muttered to herself. With a groan, she managed to push herself into a sitting position. A brown uniform, beret and goggles came into focus. Another rebel. Of course. He seemed startled that she could get up. "Don't think I'm going to let you do away with me so easily…." With her hands pushing against her knees, she slowly stood.

"D-don't move!" a shaky voice shouted. The same as before. Blinking, she could see that he had the firearm the other man had knocked out of her hands and that his hands were shaking.

She smirked. "Never held a gun before, have ya?"

"Shut up!" His hands rose slightly and he thrust the gun at her. Damn. If she was just closer, she could knock him clear off his feet and onto his ass. The guy had no balance.

Chuckling she shook her head. "Man, oh man. What makes you think you can pull off a shot quicker than I can? Hmmm?" She bent down and grabbed the jammed gun, then aimed it lazily at the rebel.

"Your gun's jammed…. Mr. Shears told me himself."

"Did he now?"

The rebel nodded. "I've got the good one," he declared.

"So you think." Mustering the cockiest expression she could, she stepped forward. "Now why would I hold on to a gun that's jammed? Wouldn't it make much more sense to throw it away and hold onto the good one?"

"I… you…."

"Say yer prayers, kid." Moving her hand in a motion to look like she was about to cock her gun, it only took a second for her plan to fit into place. The rebel, who was clearly a young man who had never seen any real fighting, threw himself quite literally at her feet and wrapped his arms around her legs.

_"Please don't kill me,"_ he begged. "Please! I've got a family; a beautiful baby sister and—" She didn't let him finish. She didn't want to hear any bullshit excuse. She merely cocked her right leg back before sending her knee quickly forward to collide with his face. As she did so, she also brought her hand with the jammed gun down to pistol-whip him across the backside of his neck. The grip on her legs slackened and she stepped out of the circle his arms had formed to retrieve her working gun.

Bending over to pick up the gun, a paler hand slid quickly underneath her russet skin to receive it. "Pretty slick back there, rookie."

"Reno?" Standing up, the Costan woman watched the senior Turk that Tseng, and- now that she thought about it- Jayden had mentioned to her. He held the gun gingerly in his hand, fingers safely away from the semi-circle trigger guard, and was examining it. "I thought you were down for the count," she muttered.

"From that Shears guy? Nah." The red haired man grinned. "Been knocked around worse than that before. Your gun's not jammed," he said, waving it in front of her face.

Myria smiled. "I know," she replied. Holding out the other one she said, "This one is."

Reno let out an impressed whistle. _"Very_ slick." Passing the non-jammed gun into her hands, he took the other gun and quickly cocked it back on fourth until the gleaming bullet dropped out of the barrel on to the sidewalk. "You're lucky he didn't shoot you, yo."

Holstering the first gun, she sighed absentmindedly. "He wasn't going to." She was focused on clipping her gun in, but in her peripheral vision she saw Reno quirk an eyebrow. "He hesitated. You hesitate like that and you can't go back to being a threat anymore," she explained.

"You sure know a lot about guns."

Myria grimaced. "On the contrary—I just know what they can do to flesh."

"Well then…" Reno slid his hands into his pockets. A thin silver chain dangled from a leather band in his first, and attached to it was a shiny metal rod that was dangling down by his knee. "So you saved me, huh?"

She honestly hadn't thought much on it. "I guess I did."


	6. AVALANCHE

_Disclaimer:_ Again, I do not own FFVII or any related locations, terms, etc. I own solely my OCs and the majority of the plotline. More love for my beta RT. I'm also really sorry this took longer than expected. School starts tomorrow and I'm working at a Zoo on Thursdays. I'm going to keep trying to update semi-weekly but I need to figure out some time to write. On a good note, over a hundred people are reading this story. Thanks so much guys! I'd love to hear from more of you, that stuff really pushes me to pump out a new chapter. As a reward, my faithful reviewers Enyara, xEpIcxXxfAiLx, and Midori all get cookies.^^ Rebellious Turk gets a lapdance from Reno though cuz she's my beta

* * *

**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter VI: **AVALANCHE

* * *

_"You sure know a lot about guns."_

_Myria grimaced. "On the contrary—I just know what they can do to flesh."_

_"Well then…" Reno slid his hands into his pockets. A thin silver chain dangled from a leather band in his first, and attached to it was a shiny metal rod that was dangling down by his knee. "So you saved me, huh?"_

_She honestly hadn't thought much on it. "I guess I did."_

With his hands in his pockets, Reno continued to watch the rookie. She was different from the others. She didn't try to flaunt the fact that she had saved his ass, as his story about him being fully conscious the entire time wasn't _completely_ true. (More like he was fading in and out and finally was able to heave himself back up.) At the same time, she didn't seem to be taking the opposite route of fake humility that some of the other rookies would have taken. Her head just didn't seem to have the capacity to focus on one event in particular; it looked quite full from where he stood.

_Must just be shaken then, _he decided. "You know, as much as it might seem like it, not every rookie nearly gets killed on the first day of the job," he said lightly.

She rolled her eyes. "No?"

"Of course not. Tha' usually happens at the end of the month when we decide to initiate you for real." He smirked at his own joke while she didn't find any humor in it at all.

"Beautiful," she muttered sourly.

"Hey, none of that now," he said. "You deal with the shit you sign up for." Again the woman rolled her eyes but this time she snorted and muttered something in a language he didn't recognize. He had assumed she wasn't from Midgar—not many people had dark skin like that. The only two people he could think of off the top of his head were Rude and the woman standing before him with coffee colored hair and golden-brown eyes. He opened his mouth to ask if she was from Mideel, but was cut off by his PHS going off. "Hold that thought, rookie. Tseng? What the _hell_ is going on right now?"

"We're trying to figure that out ourselves. For the moment, we've learned that we're dealing with a terrorist organization by the name of AVALANCHE. They're fairly large from what has been reported, and we've managed to find another large gathering of this group. Here are your next orders. The both of you are to go to Junon—"

"What about Cissnei?" Reno interrupted. Glancing back at the factory, remembering that she had yet to exit.

"I've already given her orders. She's to stay behind and guard the factory in case they attempt to overrun it again. Now listen, Reno. You and Myria are to go to Junon," the Wutaian man repeated. "The President's life may be in danger."

"The President's?!" Shit. This really was something big. "Roger, we'll leave right away." He saw Rookie watch him skeptically as she noticed that he said _we_ instead of _I_. He hung up the phone, he slid it into his pants pocket, and pulled his Electro Magnetic Rod back up and attached it back to his wrist and arm.

"Is your President being targeted?" the rookie asked slowly. She seemed detached to the matter of the kidnapping, and the fact that she had said "your president" hadn't escaped him.

Reno nodded gravely. "Yeah. We're leaving for Junon right away."

If she had been drinking something, he was sure she would have choked on it here. _"W-what did you say?"_ she asked frantically.

"We're going to Junon. If the President is in danger, it's our job as Turks to protect him."

"No, no, no, no! _I_ can't leave. I-I—" she stuttered.

Reno frowned. What was with the fuss? "You don't have much of a choice, rookie. Look, I don't know what they told you when you signed up but orders are orders and disobeying them have serious consequences." Boy, was _he_ the one to talk. While he didn't directly disobey orders, he _did_ take his time with the less important ones. But that was besides the point…

She was biting her lip now. Damn it. She was taking too long. Grabbing on to her arm, he started to pull her in the direction of Headquarters. "Ouch! Let go of me, asshole," she cried out and actually smacked him on the shoulder blade.

_Oh,_ she did _not_ know who she was dealing with _at all._

"What's wrong with you?" he retorted, letting go of her. When he did, he saw why she had shouted at him—a familiar, sticky, dark red substance. Blood. "How bad is it?" he asked a little less harshly, looking over his shoulder at her. After the threat of what disobeying orders meant, she was actually following him. "Come on, is it serious or not?"

"It's fine," she muttered, glaring at him now. Talk about bipolar.

"Well, we'll get you fixed up on the way there." Nodding to himself, he picked up his PHS and called Veld. The scarred man picked up without any ringing. "Come on, Veld, how are we supposed to get to Junon? Walk?"

"Reno…." His superior was not in any mood to deal with Reno's sense of humor.

"Aw, come on."

"There's a helicopter on the way."

"Make sure it's got a decent first aid kit in it."

He could almost see Veld leaning in with a concerned face. "Who's hurt?" he asked quietly.

"The Rookie's got a few nasty cuts on her arm."

"And…?"

"Might be worth stitches, might not," Reno replied. The rookie was glaring harder at him now. She didn't like being talked about like she wasn't there. "We'll report to you back in Junon…"

* * *

By the time the helicopter arrived, Myria had discovered that it was nearly impossible to pin exactly what type of a man Reno was and that unnerved her. At first she had pegged him as someone who could have been quiet similar to a man within her _Angelitos-_ self-sufficient, loyal, cold and unwilling to let strangers in. But now… she could see he was just downright unpredictable. He was acting like she was just one of _them_, just a newbie.

He, like Jayden, didn't seem to know that she had been forced into this job. But unlike with Jayden, Myria _would_ be worried if he found out she had killed two SOLDIERs. The friends of those deceased had already forcefully proved to her that Shin-Ra had gang or mafia mentality when it came to "taking care" of wrong-doers.

"Keeping it together, rookie?" Reno called. He was in the pilot's seat, oddly enough. The pilot that had come for them was currently stitching the cuts on her arm and had forfeited his seat because, apparently, the senior Turk could fly a helicopter. As for her cuts, they were deep, but nothing life threatening unless they got infected and she didn't seek treatment. Or so she was told.

She didn't answer him verbally at first, only smiled sardonically. She was trying to think of something witty to say but the best she could come up with was, "It's strange to watch yourself get sewn back together and not feel anything."

"Medicine is a beautiful thing, huh?"

"Pain killers are." Her eyes darted back to her phone. It was early morning now, about five o'clock. Marisol had a habit of waking up with the sun, ready to wake Myria up to get ready for an early morning, but today she would be waking up to a cold and empty bed.

Myria bit her lip. She had promised that she would be back in the hotel room long before the three year old would awaken. _She'll be terrified when she wakes up._ That thought alone was killing her. The poor girl would assume the absolute worst as soon as she called out for Myria and received no answer. It wasn't like she could make a phone call either—everyone was listening and she was sure it wasn't exactly acceptable to disclose information about missions or the company either. She could make the call in Costan, but that would draw attention to the fact that she didn't want anyone to hear what she had to say.

_Damn it. What am I supposed to—_

Her PHS was ringing. Blinking, she looked down at it. The name **Veld** was flashing on its screen. It took every bit of concentration to remind herself that this was the man who could order for her execution at a moment's notice. "Hello?"

"Myria?"

"Yes… sir." It was almost painful for her to call him that.

"How are you wounds?"

She glanced at them. "Fine." This could not be the true purpose of the phone call. There was no way that such a cruel company would check in on her over small injuries. "Is everything alright?"

"For you it is." That sentence didn't make any sense. "About that little girl from the beach," he began carefully. Her eyes widened.

"What did you do?" she hissed.

"Nothing bad. The little girl is safe. I had the hotel staff slip a note under the door saying that you were fine but you would be gone for a few days and if she needed anything, she should simply call the front desk—"

_"Idiot!_" She could see Reno glance at a mirror that no doubt showed her reflection. Not wanting him to suddenly announce he had the ability to read lips as well, she swiveled around in her seat, ignoring the protests of the man stitching up her arm. "It'll heal on its own!" she snapped. "So back off." She set her anger on Veld next, dropping her voice as low as she could.

"You give a new meaning to _'dumbass'_, do you know that?" Funny how just a moment ago she was telling herself that she should be kind towards this man. The idea that he held her life in his hand had flown out of her head. This mama bear had just found out that there was a hunter standing between her and her cub. "She's _three._ She can't read yet! You've just gone and made it worse!"

There was no pause on the other end of the phone. Instead, Veld just breathed out very quietly, "Well, whose fault is _that?"_ His voice was rather calm for having just been insulted by one of his rookies, but there was a subtext of annoyance or light anger in it as well. "I'm not the one in charge of her well being—I'm just the one who has the final say in whether you're getting toss in front of the firing squad. You should consider lying so that you don't get yourself killed."

"I—" The phone line went to a dead tone. Bringing her PHS in front of her, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair nervously. By now the helicopter was touching down. She put her head in her hands. Her temper really was going to be the death of her.

Outside, on the streets of Junon, Myria looked at everything in an attempt to distract herself from the fact that she might be facing a death sentence when they returned to Midgar. She and Reno were walking towards a hotel now, and Reno was reporting in to Veld- who apparently didn't gossip about being told off by subordinates. Reno also seemed to be ignoring that something had happened back in the helicopter. Just as they were about to enter the hotel where President Shin-Ra was staying, he hung up.

"Keep up the good work," he told the guards standing outside as he entered.

"The President is waiting for you," they replied. They looked at her expectantly. That was when she realized that they were expecting an order from either her or Reno. She smirked to herself. Seeing as Reno had already gone inside, that responsibility fell to her.

"Let us know if you see anything," she ordered.

They nodded at her as she stepped in behind Reno. "Leave it to us, ma'am."

From there on the walk to the President's room was silent. No one was in the halls except for the two Turks and the guards. When they reached the room, Reno didn't even look back to offer any bit of advice like he had offered to her at the Mako factory. The message was clear: _You're on a serious mission now. You better not _need_ any advice to carry it out._

As the red head pushed the door open, Myria noticed that his hair was longer than she had thought. When she had seen his messy hair from the front, pulled backwards, she had expected a short little pony tail, but it was actually just longer than his shoulders. She wondered briefly why he kept it so long when he was in a job that could be potentially dangerous to do so.

"We'll be looking after you from now on," Reno announced as he held the door open for Myria.

Stepping into the room, she got her first glimpses at the very man that was practically holding her captive. He was standing in front of a television screen that was mounted on the wall. And, if she might say so (she certainly _thought_ it), President Shin-Ra was a rather unappealing man. "Veld sent you, did he?" Both Turks nodded. "That's good thinking on his part." Myria vaguely heard footsteps in the hallway. Turning her head, she saw a guard suddenly rush in.

"AVALANCHE is he—" He tried to warn, but his voice was cut off by a crude cry. In a blink of her eye, the man beside her had suddenly caught on fire and seemed to be perfectly incinerated before he hit the floor.

The President jumped backwards. "What was that just now?!" he demanded.

Reno was already unlatching his Electro Mag. Rod at his wrist. "It's alright, Mr. President. We'll keep you safe." Nodding at Myria, she followed his suit and un-holstered one of her guns, grasping it firmly in both her hands and stepping out of the doorway and closer towards the President. She assumed a Weaver Stance and waited. Reno glanced backwards at the President before stepping beside her. As he did, an AVALANCHE fighter- donned in red garb instead of the brown uniform she had seen earlier- appeared.

"I've found you, President Shin-Ra. Prepare to die."

"As if I'd let you," Myria retorted. While she was certain she hated the man she was now protecting, if she screwed up, she _and_ Reno were dead meat. If she did a good job, however, it might make up for calling Veld a dumbass.

Without warning, another fireball was summoned by the AVALANCHE minion, but it was directed at the President rather than the two Turks. "Mr. President! Get down!" The old man offered no objection and quickly dove under his desk. Reno rushed forward at the attacker, shouting, "Blizzard!" as he pulled back his arm and aimed a hard strike at the attacker.

Myria got the attacker in her sights, lining up the white dot on the tiny block at the end of her gun with the man. Unfortunately, Reno was in the way. The red head danced methodically around the attacker, dodging a punch and missing another strike. "Now!" he shouted, jumping out of the way. She took the shot, and the bullet needed no help relocating itself in the attacker's chest. Not even waiting for the man to stumble backward, Reno rushed it and walloped him hard on the back. The AVALANCHE soldier went down face first.

Reno gave a nudging kick to see if he would get up. "They've managed to get past the security guards. They're well organized, aren't they?" he mused.

President Shin-Ra peaked out from under his desk and stood shakily. "Are those the renegades from Midgar? How dare they try and destroy this fine company!"

A new light illuminated the room. The television screen on the wall flickered on and Veld filled its parameters. "Sir, are you alright?" he asked, eyes searching the room for the President's figure.

_Must be a camera feeding them footage,_ Myria decided. While Veld was on screen, she didn't dare look him in the eyes. She found the recent attack an excuse to peak out of the hallway to keep watch as she listened.

"I'm fine," President Shin-Ra replied coarsely.

She couldn't see what Veld was doing, but she listened as he continued speaking. "Sir, AVALANCHE is after you. I really think you should put off the inspection. If you proceed with your original plans, you'll make it easier for AVALANCHE to carry out their objective."

"No," the President declared. "We'll continue with the inspection as planned; we've got to show that we're not affected by a _snivelling_ band of miscreants."

"Then Mr. President, please have a look at this."

"What the hell is this?" Reno murmured. His words made Myria turn around. "This place is crawling with AVALANCHE!" Indeed, it was true. The image of Veld sitting at his desk had been replaced with footage of different halls and corridors of the hotel, each and every one of them containing one or more rebel.

Veld spoke over the footage, "This is the reality of the situation. Do you understand now, Mr. President?"

"Then _do something about it_, Veld." It was a quiet order- one that made Veld's lip twitch slightly as he reappeared.

"Very well. Please wait a moment. I've sent additional reinforcements to the hotel entrance. Reno, you stay there and guard the President. Myria…" The leader of the Turks found the young woman in the room and made sure give her stern eye contact. "You'll sweep the hotel and take care of any of the AVALANCHE members that you find."

A death sentence if she ever heard one, especially considering the sheer number of rebels she had seen. "Yes sir," she grumbled. "I'll get right on it." Taking that as her cue to level, she stepped out of the room, the President calling faintly behind her.

"Hurry," he ordered. "I'm behind schedule and I have a lot of things I need to get done today."

"How about you sit tight and be grateful?" she muttered to herself once she knew that she was out of his hearing range. She followed the corridor Reno and she had originally taken, going past an empty room and coming upon two other rooms. "Eenie, meanie, you," she decided, walking carefully up to the one of her left. Placing her left hand on the doorknob, minding her middle finger's splint, she quickly pulled the door open and jumped backwards to avoid any projectiles that might be fired at her. A rebel came running out.

"A Turk?! Where's the President?" he demanded, thrusting a rifle in her face. "If you tell me, I'll spare your life."

"Don't even try that with me," she declared dully and grabbed onto the rifle's barrel, trying to aim it away from her as the rebel pulled the trigger.

* * *

As soon as Myria left the room, the President and Veld continued to speak. Veld was explaining the best route available to bring the President to the conference room where he would speak to the press as originally planned. Even though he was alternating between glancing out at the halls, looking at the President, checking the windows and back to the halls again, Reno was still listening. He nodded every now and again to let Veld know he was still paying attention.

Currently he was contemplating if it would have been wiser for him to be sent out to clear the hotel instead of the sending the rookie. He could have gotten the job done a lot quicker, but if the president needed to be moved or if AVALANCHE suddenly all gathered in the room, Reno was definitely the better choice of the two to be here. That, and it was better to lose a rookie than to lose a professional…

"Reno." The red head looked up after hearing Veld call his name. "Good luck."

"Luck ain't got nothing to do with it," he replied as the television screen clicked off. Minutes ticked by and Reno's back began to slouch against the doorway's frame.

"Where is she?" he heard President Shin-Ra demand.

"Give her some time, sir. The situation is a bit overwhelming."

Shin-Ra snorted. "Then Veld should have sent more of you to protect me. What was he thinking? Only sending two…."

Reno frowned. He had a deep respect for Veld- the man who had pulled the Turks through a lot of things over the years. "I assure you that there's a good reason for that, Mr. President. The others are being dispatched in Midgar to protect the reactors and the Company. Besides, it's not just the two of us. We've got the infantry coming as back up and Nora—"

"That blonde woman?" Reno nodded faintly. "She's just as worthless as the rest of you. That's _it_. We leave now."

"W-wa-wait! Wait a minute, sir!" Reno pushed himself off the doorframe as the President power walked himself out of the room he was in. "At least let me go first, sir, if AVALANCHE are still patrolling the halls then—"

"Then that useless co-worker of yours had better be dead," Shin-Ra replied.


	7. Goodbye Midgar?

_Disclaimer:_ Again, I do not own FFVII or any related locations, terms, etc. I own solely my OCs and the majority of the plotline. More love for my beta RT.

Dear god, you have no idea how scary it was when my computer deleted this. *shudders* I don't even know how I wound up finding it.....

* * *

**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter VII: **Goodbye Midgar?

* * *

"_W-wa-wait! Wait a minute, sir!" Reno pushed himself off the doorframe as the President power walked himself out of the room he was in. "At least let me go first, sir, if AVALANCHE are still patrolling the halls then—"_

"_Then that useless co-worker of yours had better be dead," Shin-Ra replied._

Reno stumbled after the man he had been assigned to protect. He only managed to take a few steps past the President before the sound of rapid footsteps made him stop, holding out a hand as a signal for the man behind him to stop. He paused just long enough to realize that they were coming from behind them, then turned around and stepped in front of the President, ready for battle. A few moments later, the dark skinned rookie came into view, jogging slightly to catch up to them. Seeing her in one piece further propelled his initial idea that if she could get used to being pushed around, she would make one hell of a Turk. "Oi! Rookie! What's your status?" he asked as she neared.

Slightly of breath she replied, "I've swept the hotel. We're clear."

He let out an impressed whistle as President Shin-Ra stepped out from behind him. "Get ready then," the man said to both Turks. "We're departing for my news conference now."

The rookie gave Shin-Ra a confused stare but, after Reno gestured with his hand for her to take the lead, she headed for the entrance of the hotel with the President and Reno in tow. As per Veld's instructions, the trio headed outside. Once there, they came in contact with a larger complement of guards, a few waiting to join them and the rest filling the hotel or heading out to their next location.

The President looked around and nodded in a pleased fashion. "We'll hold our news conference in the Junon branch office's press room," he announced. "Gentlemen—" there was, surprisingly, no objection from the rookie, "—I'm counting on you to watch my back."

There was a chorus of, "Yes sir!" that came from the assorted infantry men as they departed. The first block proved to be no problem. Rookie was watching the streets but she was forgetting the obvious—there could be an attack from above. A plane, a sniper, an angry rebel throwing bricks, you never could know. For this, Reno occasionally glanced upwards, and so he was the first to notice the threat as it occurred.

"President Shin-Ra!" A rebel was hanging outside a third story window. "Remember this!" As quick as nearly every operative with a gun could begin to fire, the rebel tossed something out of the window.

"It's a bomb," one of the guards shouted.

Looking forward, he could see that the President was just standing there, stunned. "Get him out of here, rookie!" Reno shouted over the panic. Without hesitating, the rookie grabbed the President's arms, much to his protesting, and pulled him forward as they began to run. Reno turned backwards and ran behind the corner of a building just before bomb hit. Someone screamed.

"God _damn_ it!"

* * *

Myria was coughing before the smoke even cleared. She waved her hands in front of her, trying to make it pass quicker. _At least it was a small bomb,_ she mused. The only reason she had been knocked down was because she was halfway to tripping in a pothole in the ground. Coughing some more, she pushed herself up to her knees. The smoke was beginning to fade now. "Sir, are you alright?" she shouted, not knowing where anyone was.

The response she got came from the President. "Yes… there's no problem." She snorted. President Shin-Ra was definitely not the sir had called out to but the old man continued on anyway. "But – they… the road—"

"What about it?" Turning around, her breath hitched in her throat. _We're screwed…_ In front of her lay a gaping hole in the street that stretched out from one side to the other and was far too wide for any human to jump. Maybe that bomb wasn't as small as she thought it had been….

"God _damn_ it," she cursed. The only thing running through her mind was that any mistake or harm that came to anyone important could be blamed on her. Glancing around she saw two infantry guards were on the same side of street as herself and the President—everyone else lay on the opposite side with no real way to get across unless they were to climb down into where the bomb had hit and out on to the other side. The bomber would just take them out; who knew what else he had on him?

"Someone _shoot_ him!" ordered Shin-Ra. The various company employees weren't the only ones to hear him. Before anyone could find the attacker in their gun's sight, he had ducked inside and closed the window behind him.

"He could be coming down now," one of the guards began, "Sir, we have to move you now."

President Shin-Ra nodded before directing his gaze at Myria. "You take the lead."

It was an order. A fucking order. _If we were back home,_ went her thoughts, _it would be a completely different matter._ She wouldn't have to play meat shield nor would she have to worry about finding someone to be hers; any of the _Angelitos_ would have jumped in front of her without a second thought. True, it was because they knew they had a better chance of surviving a gunshot than Jefe's wrath if they allowed any harm to come to her, but that was beside the point.

Fishing around for an excuse for her lack of movement, she sighed. "Mr. President, he'll just keep coming after us. Someone has to take care of him before any more damage gets done."

"I'll take care of the guy up there," Reno shouted from across the gaping hole. "You just make sure the President makes it to safety."

The Costan's disbelief came in the form of a snort. Last time Reno had claimed that he could handle finishing up some rebels, she had to come and rescue his ass. "What are you waiting for? This'll be done in no time."

"Whatever. Come on, Mr. President, let's get out of this warzone…."

* * *

"They've been told we were coming," were Shin-Ra's words as he and Myria entered the company's branch office in Junon. She was unsure if he meant AVALANCHE or whatever other members of Shin-Ra Electric Power Company that might be in the building.

She started to say something but the sound of her phone ringing cut her off. Veld flashed on the screen of her PHS before she gathered the courage to actually open the phone. It would be her first direct contact to Veld after the fiasco on the helicopter. "Yes, sir?" she asked quietly into the phone.

Veld got right down the chase. "Don't let your guard down during the meeting. I'm giving you the duty of guarding the president."

"I understand. Listen, Veld, about—"

"You're only concern is President Shin-Ra, Myria. Stay focused." He hung up without another word.

Snapping her phone shut, Myria turned around and looked at the president for a few moments. "You don't know any hand-to-hand combat skills, do you?" she asked.

"What the hell would I need that for?!" he snapped. "I have you, don't I?"

"Just in case we should get separated again." Along the way the building, their group of four had been reduced to a trio within seconds as a sniper took out one of the guards accompanying the Turk and the president. Leaving Shin-Ra with the remaining guard, she had left to deal with the sniper but by the time she made her way back to Shin-Ra, he was surrounded by more AVALANCHE rebels and the second guard was already gone. "Stick out your arm," she instructed.

"Which one?"

"Either." He selected his left. "Good. Now, you see on this side of your wrist—the side of your pinky—that if you go down a bit you feel the bump of the joint?"

"Yes, yes."

"You can kill someone with that bone like this." She took a step forward and he immediately jumped back.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted.

"I'm showing you how to protect yourself! Now stand still, I'll go slow and I'll just tap you."

"You'll kill me," he insisted. "Let me do it to you."

She rolled her eyes. "Never mind. Just take that bone, maybe an inch or so below the joint, step forward and what you're going to do is use your body weight to shove that bone as hard as you can in the throat. This'll break the cartridge in the neck, the neck will swell and they'll asphyxiate within several minutes."

Narrowing his eyes, the president glared at her for a moment before glancing up the hall where the conference room was located. Two guards in uniform were coming down the hall. "This way, please, Mr. President," one of them called out. The president started to follow them towards the door they were standing at, and Myria followed him. "In here, sir."

"Not you, ma'am." The other guard held his hand up calmly. "We have a message to pass on to you from your boss. He wants you to guard the door so that no rebels may enter."

Myria frowned. Why hadn't Veld or Tseng called them herself?

"What are you waiting for? Every one you waste is one moment my death draws nearer!" shouted the president. "Go!"

"Yes sir," she grumbled, turning to head for the door. She slipped her phone out of her jacket's chest pocket. No reception. She glanced back at the President. He was already behind closed doors. Putting her phone back, she rested her hands on the handguns at her waist as she walked slowly towards the door. When she arrived, she saw to guards laying on the ground bleeding. "Who did this to you?"

"They're fakes," one of the guards groaned.

"Who are?"

"The President… with him…. They're rebels."

"They're going to kill him."

* * *

"I won't stand for this."

"Yes sir."

"But if the public finds out…. No, no, the public is completely on our side."

"Of course sir. They'd be foolish not to be."

"Damn right they would be." President Shin-Ra crossed across the room. "Do something about the bodies… Nora, was it?"

"Yes sir," the young blonde woman replied.

"We can't have the public see this mess the Investigation Department has allowed." Scratching his head while he headed for the camera, he began to mumble something as the door was kicked in.

"Sorry we're late, yo. Did we miss the party?"

Nora sucked her teeth. "Reno…. Myria…." A distasteful acknowledgement. Both looked as though they had rushed to get to the conference room but they were both late. She had already incapacitated the three guards that were holding the President hostage. Tseng's idea to go undercover as a reporter had worked. The element of surprise gave her enough time to jump one imposter before the other two noticed what was happening. "What took you so long?"

"AVALANCHE swarmed the halls," Myria huffed. "We had to fight our way here."

"Well, the President is safe. No thanks to either of you."

"Where are the reporters?" Shin-Ra demanded.

"Dead, sir," Nora called back. "I know how to run the camera, however. If you'd allow me, I'll record the press conference for you."

"It won't be much of a press conference without different people asking questions….. You two, stand off camera. Ask me whatever questions pop into your head after I make my statement….." He walked over to the podium. "Ready?"

"Whenever you are, sir," Nora answered, stepping behind the camera.

* * *

As the president began his closing statements, Reno let out a sigh of relief. "Look's like everything's alright now, huh, Rookie?" He was standing off to the side with the brunette Turk beside him.

"Ever hear of the calm before the storm?" she replied.

Reno laughed out loud. "That's the exact attitude you need for this job, kid. Expect the unexpected. Someone could take a hit out on all of us right now." Almost on cue, the lights went out.

Shit.

"You just had to go and open your mouth," he heard Nora say.

He'd get his snarky comment in later. They needed to protect the president now. "Hey rookie, stay next to President Shin-Ra." As his eyes slowly began to adjust to the darkness, he saw Nora's light blonde hair move across the room, sweeping through to make sure no one had snuck in. Reno himself unlatched his ever faithful weapon from his wrist and grasped the rubber coated handle. From his black chest pocket, his phone vibrated silently.

"Veld! What the hell is going on?"

"There's been a bit of trouble with one of the Mako generators on your floor. Is the President safe?"

"Yeah, everything's all right on this end. He's stuck between me and the rookie."

"And you found Nora?"

Reno nodded even though his senior office couldn't see. "She's sweeping the room. You got a plan?"

Veld remained quiet from the other end. After a few seconds, he spoke. "Reno, you stay there with the President. Have Nora sweep and clear the hallway. Get Myria—"

"You mean the rookie?"

"Yes. Get her to go and isolate the problem with the generator. It's located on the lower right hand area further in the building. I'll guide her through the corridors as she goes along."

"How's it going back in Midgar?"

"Don't worry about us; just get Myria and Nora moving."

"Roger that." He hung up the phone, then whistled to grab the attention of the two women and the President. Quickly explaining the orders from Veld, he walked over and pushed Myria towards the exit. "You'll do fine, call up Veld and he'll lead you." With her out the door, he turned to the company's miracle man. "Sir? We'll wait here until both of them come back. Just hang tight and relax."

The two stood in the room in silence, excluding the sound of the eldest of the two men. Ten minutes later, Nora still hadn't come back, though the lights did. He grinned. "Alright, rookie!" he cheered.

"It seems as if they were able to restore the power faster than I anticipated."

Reno spun around. A man dressed in light brown clothes, a uniform not unlike some of the other rebels he had seen. "But, that shouldn't pose too much of a problem," the man continued. "After all, we've stopped President Shin-Ra from completing what I'm sure was a heart warming speech."

"AVALANCHE?!"

The man chuckled. "Heh heh. Right on the mark. You've already remembered our name, then."

Seeing the man take a step forward, Reno raised his arm and dashed forward to cut him off. "Don't move!" he shouted.

"Oh please. There's no need to rush. My name is Fuhito. I don't believe we've met in person before." As Reno ran ahead, aiming to strike at the side of the man's neck, the man grabbed on to the Electro Mag Rod. They grappled for a few steps, Reno waiting until the man had both hands on his weapon before turning a dial at the handle to turn on the taser. The electricity pulsed from the metal nightclub to the hands of Fuhito. As soon as Fuhito let go of the weapon, staggering backwards, Reno lunged forward, aiming at the man's hip with his knee to knock him over. Fuhito stepped back, kicking Reno hard in the chest.

"First rule of knocking down your opponent," Fuhito said informatively, "throw your center of gravity unto them first." Another kick, this one colliding with Reno's inner thigh. Reno grabbed onto his attacker's leg, pulling him close and then throwing himself on top of his attacker. Both men went tumbling to the ground.

"Second rule of knocking down your opponent—use their weight against them."

"Heh. Go on then. Kill me. One hit with your Rod should do it."

Reno cocked back his arm.

"Too slow." Fuhito reached under his shirt and pulled out a gun.

_Shit._

Grabbing for the gun, they wrestled for control of it. With Fuhito still having his finger in the trigger guard, Reno tried to push the gun away from where it was pointed at his chest. A shot went off and he could feel it pass by his face. Another shot went off. He didn't feel a bullet but he felt as though he had just fallen onto the third rail of a subway line. His version blurred and he could feel Fuhito start to push him off. His shins were kicked and he found himself getting pulled up and off of the AVALANCHE rebel. Blinking hard and groping around, he managed to grab onto a thin leg and pull what he was sure was another attacker down and to the floor.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Reno!"

He knew that voice…. "Rookie?" He was breathing heavy now. It was déjà vu all over again. "Watch out, this guy's tough."

"Heh heh heh. I'll take that as a compliment. I'm glad we were able to have this little chat together. Unfortunately, this is where we must part ways."

Reno pushed himself off of the half-sitting position he was in. Taking a slow breath he saw Myria getting a kick to the groin. Funny… he'd never thought that would do much of anything to a woman….

"Get me out of here!" Shin-Ra cried out.

"Get the President to safety! I'll hold him off."

President Shin-Ra was clinging to his arm now, trying to get behind Reno for safety and run towards the door at the same time. "Not that way sir," Reno muttered. He pulled the President away, back towards where the cameras were set up. He pushed a bookcase over and the outline of a doorway came into view. It was the secret passage Veld had spoken about back in the hotel room. Shoving the President through that, he kept pushing the man forward.

If anything happened to that man, they were dead. Him, Nora and that rookie. Shin-Ra occasionally erased mistakes but you couldn't get away with letting the President of the whole damn company get so much as a paper cut under your watch. "Keep moving sir. Don't stop. Don't look back."

Before he knew it, they were back in the hotel room with the built in television screen in the wall. Closing the doors and locking them behind him, Reno heard a pinging sound. "You've got a video call." The President nodded and hit a button on the desk to open of the feed that he had shut off before they left. Instantly the face of the young ladies man, Rufus Shin-Ra, appeared, smirking.

"It looks like you're having some trouble there, doesn't it, old man?" Rufus asked haughtily. "I've been watching from the closed circuit feed. You're all right, I take it?" For a moment, the young blonde man almost looked concerned.

"Oh," the old man sighed. "Rufus, it's been such a long time since I've heard from you…." He almost sounded nostalgic as he spoke, as if he hadn't seen his son at the last board meeting at the start of this month.

"Hmph." The young man didn't seem to enjoy the idea that his father was thinking of him like a child. He was quick to change the subject. "Anyway, Reno." The Turk looked up from the window he had been gazing out of. "I've been watching your new Turk in action. She's not bad. What's her name?"

"It's…."

… Shit.

What _was_ the rookie's name? It started with an M and ended with an A…. It had an R somewhere too… Maria, Myra….

"Myria sir. She just started today."

Rufus nodded slowly, taking in the name. "I'll remember that. Tell her that I look forward to seeing her in action again." There was a glisten in his eyes just before the call ended, not tears, but a look Reno had noticed he often got when he was plotting something. No, not thinking, not wondering. That boy _plotted_. Like some kinda evil genius.

He watched the President cut the line. Moments later, a pinging sound came again and he reactivated it. Veld appeared on the screen. "Sir, we've got an emergency situation. The Junon cannon's been seized."

Shit. Shit. Shit. If they fired that thing…. Bye, bye Midgar. He could faintly hear the eldest Shin-Ra shout something about moving security to Veld. The man then turned to the tattooed Turk. "Head for the mako cannon. Stop AVALANCHE at all costs."

* * *

"What's this? Are you tired already?"

The floor was cold. The bottom of steel toed boots was an effective way to make any human with a nervous system go down fast. Or, in Myria's case, a simple well aimed liver punch would suffice.

"Well, if you'll excuse me then, I'll take my leave."

"Wait…" Damn it. Guns just didn't work! They were useless as soon as they were kicked away or thrown away.

"Tough first day, huh?" Fuhito mocked. "But please, don't fret. The day you take your last breath surely approaches. I will ensure that. In the meantime, please, enjoy the fireworks show we've got planned for you all. I'm sure you'll find it most delightful."

Where were her hands? Which why was up? Fuhito was getting away….

"Please understand that I only have the very best of intentions. Well, do take care." And he was gone. Gone….

Her PHS was ringing. The only reason she was sure she could find it was because of the damned white light that turned on when it rang. Flipping it open, she somehow managed to pull herself with the help of the podium the President had spoken from. "Veld?"

"We've got an emergency situation."

"No shit. What went wrong this time?"

"AVALANCHE has seized the Mako cannon." Now what the hell did_ that_ mean? "Go there at once," Veld continued. "If they fire the cannon, it'll destroy Headquarters and all of Midgar in one shot."


	8. Recovery

_Disclaimer:_ Again, I do not own FFVII or any related locations, terms, etc. I own solely my OCs and the majority of the plotline. Luff as always to Rebellious Turk. Also, I have a question for y'all. A few of you have asked in depth questions about Myria's past. While I've answered some simple question; it's clear you all want the same answers. My solution? I'm already in the process of doing a side story of Myria's past, but would anyone read it?

* * *

**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter VIII: **_Recovery_

_

* * *

_

"We've got an emergency situation."

_"No shit. What went wrong this time?"_

_"AVALANCHE has seized the Mako cannon." Now what the hell did that mean? "Go there at once," Veld continued_. "If they fire the cannon, it'll destroy Headquarters and all of Midgar in one shot."

Myria's eyes pinched shut. "Marisol….." she whispered softly. Her arms wrapped around her body to hug her middle. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be goddess knows how many miles away from the little girl at a time like this. The little girl who would have been tucked soundly in bed this morning, forced to go back to sleep by Myria who was curled up in the empty space where Jefe had been in the bed. The little girl who she used to rock to sleep at night. The little girl who stared up at her with her big dark eyes on the night her mother had been killed. The little girl who had chained Myria to her for the past two years. _Her little girl…_she was about to get blown up.

"Pull it together, Myria," she muttered to herself. She wasn't going to be able to get out of this—no- she wouldn't be able to get _Marisol_ out of this alive if she wasn't completely focused. Letting out a sigh, she opened her PHS and dialed Tseng's number. "I've reached the underground passage, Tseng."

"All right. Listen closely and I'll explain the situation to you. AVALANCHE has shot the President." Myria bit her lip. She hoped that wouldn't be able to come back to her. "They've also managed to seize the Mako cannon, as you know. That's why we've moved security from A to S level."

"Shin-Ra's emergency failsafe security system…."

"That's right," Tseng confirmed. "Of course we've also moved the cannon's security system to the highest level, effectively shutting any intruders out from the system."

Breathing out slowly as she entered the tunnel, she forced a smile. "You do realize that you're making my job easier—not harder, right?" She wasn't trying to lighten the mood for Tseng. She was doing it so that she didn't run straight home-- goddess, no; that was _not_ home. Run back to _Midgar_ is what she meant. Either way, it was ignored by the Wutain man.

"Veld is with the President right now—"

"Jeez. You've got super jets now? What time is it?"

"Three-thirty in the afternoon." The words were like a slap in the face that Tseng gave her no time to recover to. "He's going to be coordinating our movements from there so that we can move quickly to get the situation here under control. I'll be relaying your instructions to you in the meantime."

"Alright. Now what do you want me to do?"

"Reno's partner is already heading towards the cannon to seize control of it. Myria, I want you to head for the cannon's control room via the underground passage. You're going to finalize the lockdown sequence for the cannon from there." He paused. "Veld's on the other line. Don't panic and you'll do fine."

The line clicked dead after that. She continued walking, taking both guns out of their holsters. She was nearly out of bullets now. Glancing at the weapons in her hand, she opted to put them back into place. They were useless if she didn't have ammo, and just holding them wasn't going to accomplish much. Ahead of her, she heard screaming. Gunshots. More screaming. Begging and crying…. A few moments later she entered a large room.

A dozen or so bodies were littered across the floor. Each one of them were in an AVALANCHE uniform but none of them were Fuhito. Three large metal boxes that she assumed were robots were on the opposite side of the room. _Must be the security system Tseng mentioned_, she thought, continuing through the room towards the door behind them. They were bigger than the size of robots she had imagined existed, almost as tall as she was but wider and bulkier.

"Intruder detected." Red lights started flashing. "Elimination subroutine activated."

"What?!" The three robots started on her, flailing their mechanic arms. Myria stepped back. There wasn't anything physically she could do to them that would take them down without seriously hurting her. They didn't look like they had an off switch either…. As they drew nearer, she pulled out her guns, setting the dial to use—what did Reno call it, lightning material?—against the robots. Aiming for the robot in the center, she shot it twice before going to fire once at each of the other robots. The electric current jumped between the three metal boxes.

"Intruder detected," they echoed. "Must… e…liminate…." She took another shot at the one in the center, not waiting for them to finish short circuiting before pushing past them and running for the door. Slamming the door behind her as she exited, she didn't even make another step before her PHS went off again.

"Myria, are you alright?" It was Tseng.

"No thanks to those robots!"

"Calm down and listen to me carefully, Myria. The emergency failsafe security program has been activated to the highest level."

"You already told me that--… oh." It meant that _everything_ was going to attack her. Brilliant. "Shit."

"The way the security system works at that level, the robots and other features of the system target anything that moves. The system was designed to eliminate anything that remained in the building once that security level had been activated."

_"Ay díos."_ What was wrong with this company? They designed cannons that could be fired on their own city and they told its security system to attack its employees. Did that really make sense to them?

"I want you to go to the cannon's control room and lock down the cannon. Just make sure you're prepared. This is the world's most sophisticated security system you're dealing with. Myria, can you do it?"

"Come on, Tseng, you know I don't have a choice."

"That's why I have you doing this and not Reno."

"Oh? Care to explain?" she asked, pushing open a metal door.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn." She smiled. "That and I've always been told the most dangerous place in the world is between a woman and her child. Have you come up on the tunnels yet?"

"Yeah." What looked like a metal maze stood between her and the control room. "Which way?"

"Listen before you go; you'll loose reception once you enter. Middle, right, right, straight, left, middle, and straight through. That's the quickest route. Now, repeat it back to me." When she did, he hung up and she put the PHS into its proper pocket. Repeating the route under her breath as she went through the maze, she found it odd that nothing had attacked her by the time she was at the last straight away. A single door stood in front of her. She walked through it, closing it behind her. Opposite to her was a door with two guard dogs blocking it. The door had a flap for the dogs to go through.

She watched them for a moment before deciding it wasn't worth getting in a blood bath with the mutts for the sake of conserving bullets. Their teeth and nails could rip and shred through her skin and… "What the—?" The room started to shake, the dogs began to growl, and—wait a second! Were the walls moving closer to her?

Alarms were going off now. "Intruder detected." With that, the dogs started to charge at her, snarling.

"You've gotta be kidding me," she murmured. At this rate, she would be crushed along with the dogs and the various debris in the room. Running forward to meet the dogs in the middle, she stopped short of them a few feet and took aim. Between all the noise, her ears ringing, and the sheer focus it took to get the dogs in her sight, by the time she fired, the walls had already decreased the size of the room by half.

_No one would ever believe I'm a dog person after this,_ she thought to herself, walking around the twitching and writhing bodies of the dogs and quickly stepping towards the door. When she reached it, she cautiously pulled it open, assuming that since this room was fairly simple to get through, poison darts or something similar were going to be sent flying at her. Oddly enough, nothing came after her. It was just a straight hallway that continued on for what looked like forever. Just like one of those dreams where you running towards something and just couldn't get near it.

By the time she had reached the next door, the lights in the hallway were flickering—not a good sign. She checked her phone to make a call into Headquarters but the dreaded words _No signal_ flashed across the screen. With no one to warn her about what was up ahead, she placed her hand on the handle and slipped into the room quietly. A complicated looking machine lie in the dead center in the room with a glass capsule on either side of it. "What on Gaia….?"

"Intruder detected. Commencing scan operation."

_Oh now what?_

There was a flash of red, so bright it blinded the Costan woman for a few moments.

"Scan 20% complete. Scan 40% complete. Scan 60% complete "

"Damn it!" She couldn't see a thing. Her eyes were still tearing from the light.

"Scan 80% complete. Scan 99% complete. Scan complete. Commencing data transfer to Materia…."

Rubbing her eyes, Myria was blinded by another light. This one was white and it flashed three times. "Data received by Materia," she heard a computerized voice announce.

Forcing her eyes open, she tried to catch sight of what was stepping out of one of the capsules now. "Intruder detected," a female voice declared arrogantly.

"Hold on…." She knew that voice! But how—?

"Elimination subroutine activated. Any last words?"

She could feel the cold metal of a gun against her forehead. Not just any gun though, it was _her_ gun. Staring up in awe at the gun's wielder, for the first time since she had stepped foot in Midgar, Shin-Ra's incredible technology actually disturbed her.

Only Shin-Ra would figure how to clone a person so that they would have to fight them self to gain access to the control room.

* * *

Back at Shin-Ra's Headquarters, Tseng allowed himself to perform a rare action. He was pacing. Not very far, just from the span of one full sized window in Veld's office to the other. Still, it was pacing nonetheless. After all, the man had every reason to feel ill at ease with the current situation the company had found itself falling face first into. A new enemy had appeared and just within the course of one night, managed to make more of a mess than any of the old affiliates of Shin-Ra that were constantly threatening the company had accomplished in the past year. On top of that, they had also managed to seize control of Junon's mako cannon with full intentions to fire it at Midgar.

That should be enough for any sane man to begin to pace nervously, because any sane man would be terrified about loosing his life when the cannon was fired. But Tseng? He wasn't worried about his own safety just yet. He was worried about the safety of his comrades and the future of the company. It was just past 4:15 now. He hadn't heard any word from Reno since well before three when the red-head had confirmed the small number of Junon troops that would be assisting him in trying to force, and distract, AVALANCHE from the cannon's perimeter had arrived. While Reno could easily be labelled as lazy and inefficient when it came to minor missions and paperwork, the slum raised man always turned around and threw everything into getting the significant missions completed as orderly as possible. Even with the direness of the situation and whatever odds might be stacked against him, over an hour to destroy and wipe out a target was just simply too long.

Something was going terribly wrong at the front lines.

The only reassurance Tseng had that there was still a chance for everything to turn out "okay." He had, after all, placed Myria in control of shutting down the cannon. While any Turk would try their hardest, Myria had the best motivation to get the job done. She had an innocent child that was ignorant to the fact that death was practically breathing down her small neck. Myria had signed quite literally everything she had in her name over to the company for the chance to protect the girl. He could only imagine what she would do to save her. Still, he hadn't heard from the teenager in a while either.

True, she should have lost reception back before the tunnel broke off into separate halls, but this was ridiculous.

Maybe the President had been right. Maybe they really did need to call in Sephiroth…. Reaching for the phone cradle, he paused when he heard the phone begin to ring.

_This is Veld's personal line._ He considered not answering for a moment but that would be idiotic given the present situation. "This is Tseng," he greeted. Face remaining neutral, it took him a few moments to catch up with what was being said on the other line. "I… I understand. Thank you for informing us." He held down the button in the cradle to kill the phone line before letting go and dialling Myria's number. As it rang, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When she picked up, he feigned the best attempt at a panicked tone he could.

"Myria! Myria!"

"Tseng? What's wrong?" He could hear the echoing of her footsteps in the metallic halls. If he wasn't mistaken, she was running. A moment later, she let out a yelp and swore.

"What's going on down there?" he asked, debating what the imaginary boarder between convincing panic and mock panic was.

"I'm getting attacked—what do you _think_ is happening?"

"That's the least of your troubles. The cannon's override switch has been activated." Before she had the time to ask what that meant, he added, "That means that unless the command is deactivated, the cannon will fire automatically."

Another curse. "How much time do I have?"

His peers must be rubbing off on him because he had half a mind to smirk or smile to himself. "One minute," he lied. In reality, they really had twenty. "Did you get past the clone yet?"

"Would have been nice if you told me about that before hand…"

"The control room should be just ahead. Hurry!"

* * *

"That's it…."

With a final look around, Reno sighed and slumped his shoulders as he walked over to a nearby corpse. It was cleaner than the rest, unfortunately though, it was the corpse of a Junon guard he had been fighting alongside who had been decapitated. With very little effort, he dropped down on to the body as if he were sitting on a couch. "I'm the only one left, huh? Jeez…"

He rested on top of his crude sofa for maybe ten minutes, trying to catch him breath while resting his head in his hand. The sun was setting now. He had spent half the day on a coffee rush and the other half of the day's energy came from the ever faithful adrenaline rushes that came with being a Turk. Taking a steadying breath, he pulled out his PHS. Before he could flip it open, Veld's name appeared as an incoming call. He opened the phone and made a muffled grunt of acknowledgement.

"Everyone report," ordered their commander-in-chief.

"The president is safe," came Nora's voice. As expected, Veld had made it a group call. "All resistance has been taken care of since your departure."

"Everyone's dead here on the front, yo." Reno glanced down at the corpse he was sitting on. He patted the dead man's chest and offered thanks for the improper use of the body. "Did we loose Midgar?"

Tseng spoke next. "You wouldn't be hearing from me if you did."

"I'm still waiting for my _thank you_," the latest newbie grumbled.

Reno grinned. "What are you talking about, rookie?" he began playfully. "None of this ever happened."

Veld cleared his throat. "Reno's correct. As Turks, it is our job to keep the company's secrets just that—a secret." There was a brief pause. "Reno, Myria, I should be in your location within a few minutes."

Reno turned his eyes to survey the skyline. "That you in the helicopter coming at me, boss?"

"Correct. Myria, I trust you know how to exit the tunnel system?"

"Nope. I'm just following the guy with the silver hair. _Hey! Slow down, damn it._"

Reno made a sound stuck between a cough and a shocked laugh. "Sephiroth? What's that freak doing here?" As those words slipped out of his mouth, he heard someone begin to snicker from behind him. Turning around, he saw the russet tones of the rookie's hand covering her mouth to hide her sarcastic laughter. And directly in front of her? The mighty general in all his glory.

Sephiroth.

"He's here because you Turks remain unable to complete a job without assistance."


	9. Of Costans and Contests

_Disclaimer:_ Again, I do not own FFVII or any related locations, terms, etc. I own solely my OCs and the majority of the plotline. The first person to find where my sanity went while writing the opening to this chapter wins a chocobo….

A sad announcement: My beloved beta, Rebellious Turk, has had to resign from the "The Fading Skyline" team because of life being, well, life. For that, as well as some other reasons, I apologize for this chapter being so late. I'll try to keep this to a weekly updated story. And JESUS. Every time I centered anything, it aligned it to the left afterwards. Fuck. Sorry, guys.

* * *

**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter IX: **Of Costans and Contests

* * *

_Reno made a sound stuck between a cough and a shocked laugh. "Sephiroth? What's that freak doing here?" As those words slipped out of his mouth, he heard someone begin to snicker from behind him. Turning around, he saw the russet tones of the rookie's hand covering her mouth to hide her sarcastic laughter. And directly in front of her? The mighty general in all his glory._

_Sephiroth._

_"He's here because you Turks remain unable to complete a job without assistance."  
_

"All riiiight~. Whose a hero? You are~ and you are, and you are...." Finally back in Midgar, the Turks that had been stationed at Junon where all beginning to file in behind Veld. Each one of them was promptly accosted by Jayden, his enthusiastic demeanour congratulating all of them as they stepped out of the elevator and into the temporary Turk headquarters that lay on the 42nd floor. A plain floor filled with useless cubicles, a conference room, a small lounge area and a door that lead to Veld's office. It was terrible plain and ill fitting when compared to the nature of the missions the Turks were assigned.

"Veld! The man of the hour!" Jayden exclaimed. The blonde haired man raised his right hand for a high-five. "Come on boss, up top!" Veld, now used to the rookie's behaviour after a month and a half, just ignored him and walked further into the floor, making room for the others to enter behind him. Jayden frowned for a moment, but he continued to try and get high-fives from Nora, who gave him a rather chilling stare; Tseng, who had gone down to meet the returning group and now gave Jayden a reproaching look; Myria, who just pushed past and then finally Reno. The red haired man was the only one who humoured him and brought his hand within a few inches of Jayden's before pulling it back.

"Too slow," he informed the younger man in a tired voice. He was exhausted. They all were but no one else had to hold off half a rebel army for three hours….

Jayden looked at the slow moving train of Turks as they made their way back to the conference room of the floor. A few other Turks that had been gathered around the floor began to file their way to where Veld and the others were gathering. He made it a quick priority to follow them into the room, too excited to hear their tales to take a seat like the rest of his peers. Veld didn't waste a moment in debriefing them.

"Good work, everybody. You all did well. The President's still alive, we've protected Midgar."

"What about Junon?" Cissnei asked slowly. "How many fatalities were there?"

"You mean on our side or theirs?" Myria piqued. Though no one aside from her and Veld would know, any irritation she had was from the fact that she had to spend the whole helicopter ride beside Veld, still with no sign on if she was going to be fired or not.

"None of our men were lost," said Tseng.

Reno snorted. "Different story for AVALANCHE. Still…. Even with Sephiroth _and_ myself,"—oh, even when tired his cocky attitude did not know how to shut off—, "I don't think we made much of a dent. They just kept coming and coming…." He turned his head towards Veld. "What are we gonna go, sir? There's no way that after this fiasco, they'd just let up and shrink away." A few others nodded in agreement.

"Be as that may, we still know very little about the organization."

"Didn't intell give us anything useful?" Jayden asked.

"Not much."

From the corner of his eye, he could see Myria straining her neck to check the clock for what time it was. When she saw it, her annoyed expression only grew worse. "Who would have thought that being attacked would have some benefits," she muttered darker. "At least we know about their leader."

"How'd you figure that one out, rookie?"

She forced a sarcastic smile. "Dear Miss Elfe decided it would be a good idea to pay me a visit. She seemed to think that trying to kill me would make her feel a bit better about her organization failing with its mission."

"Ah, so that's why the general was really there," laughed Reno. "He was saving _you_."

_"Shut up."_ Her tone didn't even suggest the twisted sort of playfulness the Turks used when they cursed one another out. It was just plain old nasty.

Veld stepped up to the table resting a hand on Myria's shoulder—something that made her flinch but it made her freeze and shut up immediately. Just like a grade school teacher politely telling a student to be quiet. "Everything is going to be taken care of," he assured despite no one having inquired as to if it would. "For now, I just want everyone who was active in Junon—" he paused and looked at the clock, "… Yesterday and today to get some rest. You'll be on stand-by tomorrow. You don't have to come in unless you're called for. Keep an eye out on the streets though. See what you can hear."

When he dismissed them, a few moments later, Myria was the first one out the door despite being the one furthest from her and she was the fastest to exit building. After all, she had a demanding three year old waiting for her.

* * *

"You hate me."

Those were the simple words that Marisol presented her mother with when she finally slipped through the hotel room's door at just past three in the morning. It also just past twenty-four hours since she had seen the child but that grumble made Myria re-consider any polite greeting she had to say to the child. "You're okay," she sighed, dropping down onto the bed and wrapping the little girl up in her arms. "I was so worried…."

"Liar." The word sliced through her deeper than any of the stiched up cuts on her arms were.

"Marisol!" Myria tried to turn her daughter so that they were face-to-face but the daughter in question managed to squirm out of her grip.

"You _hate_ me," Marisol repeated. She kept her back to turn her mother, trying to hide the tears that were coming down her face. The sniffling sounds gave it away. "I… didn't mean to make you run away for so long…. I won't steal your pillow this time, I promise." Another sniffle.

"Oh, _mi vida,_" Myria sighed. She crawled over to the other side of the bed and pulled Marisol into another hug. "I'd never run away from you and I could _never_ hate you."

"Then why'd you leave me? You promised you'd come back quick and you broke your promise."

"I have to work, you know that. As much as I want to, I can't just walk away from any jobs I get. Trust me, I would if I could. But I can't. I'd get fired."

"Then get fired!" the girl suddenly demanded. "I hate it here. You leave me all alone during the day and you're not here to wake me up or take care of me." The silence that ensued the small girl's outburst seemed endless. Myria would never dream of telling the truth to her baby girl; that she would be killed if her contract with Shin-Ra Electric Company became voided, but she couldn't come up with a lie to justify what she was doing either. In the beginning, she had told Marisol that she was protecting people like Jefe had protected his Costan neighbours but even Jefe came home through out the day, always stopping in the see his 'favourite women,' as he had called them.

More silence, a minute or two perhaps and then a sniffle.

"I want to go home, mami."

* * *

The next day, while Myria took advantage of her time off to go exploring Midgar, she received a phone call from Tseng. The company had a vacant room on the designated floor for the female workers that the company had deemed as hers. She was expected to have everything out of the hotel by check out on Friday, at which time the company would cease to pay her bill. She could continue to stay at the hotel—if she could afford it. But any money she had was halfway across the world right now, in a hot humid country known primarily for its sunny coasts and tourist hot spots.

There, a man twelve years older would be receiving a phone call from a newly acquired connection. "Shin-Ra will appear in your town once again," was what the informant stated. The man asked how long they had until then. "They'll be arriving within the next few days."

A short pause. "They're moving quite quickly, aren't they? Haven't they done enough to my town?"

"The company likes what obtained during the raid."

The man sighed. "So then they're coming back for seconds, eh? Greedy bastards. I don't think what they found is going to be worth that much to them…."

"On the contrary, I've seen it first hand. Impressive, but not refined."

The thirty year old let out nostalgic chortle. "No, she never was."

* * *

Sure enough, as the informant had warned, a large aquatic vessel baring the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company logo had appeared within the main port of Costa del Sol. Not the main port that rested in the tourist area, but rather one on a beach that stretched for miles where the locals resided. The red and white logo did not go unnoticed by the Costan people—shops began to close almost instantly and mothers began to usher their children in the direction of their homes. Several minutes later, two figures emerged from the ship, each clad in black uniforms.

The first out was a tall and lanky man, his red hair flaming in the sunlight and the second was the darker skinned man whom the red head had just been informed was his official partner from this mission fourth.

"Yo, I don't know what you're so worried about Rude," Reno began as he stepped onto the beach, pushing his shoes extra hard into the sand to enjoy the sound it made. "If you ditched the jacket, you could blend right in with some of the locals."

Rude readjusted his sunglasses. "If I removed my jacket, I would be removing the appearance that states I'm loyal to the company," he said simply.

Reno snorted. "They saw you walk out of a Shin-Ra owned ship—they already know you're with the Company." His walking pace was slow and taken back, by now, Rude had already passed him. When Rude looked back with an inquiring expression hidden behind his sunglasses, Reno grinned. "What? We're in a vacation town, ain't we? I'm gonna relax and take it easy. Hell…. I bet we could get a drink for real cheap too!"

He could almost hear Rude roll his eyes.

"Don't be like that big guy," he said, catching up to Rude. "Look, right there. A bouncer, a flashy neon sign. That looks like a bar if I ever saw one." Clapping his partner on his shoulder, the twenty year old started off for the bar, whistling a merry tune under his breath. He stopped at the bouncer, smirking as he received a hateful look from the Costan. "Wanna check my ID, amigo?" he asked. Receiving only a glare, he took that as a _please-go-on-ahead-sir_ gesture.

Inside the building, he learned that he was mistaken. He had not entered a bar, but rather, a fight club. While, yes, he could see a bartender behind a counter and numerous sets of tables and chairs but what caught his attention was the fighting ring in the middle of the large room. Within it, three bulky men were ganging up on a man half their size and probably twice their age. Looking the scrawny man over, Reno nodded impressively as the single man took out all three opponents within a few seconds.

Men and women around the ring began to chant, "King! King! King! King!"

Funny, he didn't expect to hear any words from the Midgar dialect this far away from home. Maybe they had some bilingual program like the ones Midgar never bothered with. Either way, he had found his target.

Earlier that morning, Veld and briefed himself and Rude about a new request the executive had; SOLDIER candidates—and lots of them. Additionally, they only seemed to be after Costan candidates for some reason. To recruit candidates, Veld had sent them straight to the source with the address for this building in particular. It wasn't just a fighting club; it was a stronghold for some of the best fighters Costa del Sol had to offer. Furthermore, the fighters all lived by one golden rule. _Follow the King at all costs_. The King was supposedly the toughest fighter in the club and to become him, as well as gain absolute control of the club's members, an outsider had to defeat every member and then defeat the current king.

Which meant their mission was obvious.

Become the next King and order them onto the vessel.

"You have any questions, my friend?" Reno heard a man ask. Turning, he saw the bartender was addressing him.

"You got any booze I can pronounce the name of?" the Turk replied.

"That will all depend on you," laughed the barista. "But I'm sure to have at least one to fit your fancy. Come, have a drink. First time here, right? It's on me."

Not one to pass up free alcohol or a chance to sit and observe his future opponents, Reno made his way to the bar. When inquired as to what he wanted to drink, he responded with, "Something from your favourite year. On the rocks."

This made the bartender smile to himself. "My favourite year?" he mused aloud. His hand hovered over some bottles with Costan names already spread out along the counter behind him for a few moments, and then he walked in the other direction, disappearing under the counter. "You, my friend, are making this a very difficult decision," he called from a cupboard in the counter. A few moments later, Reno heard a crashing sound as the man bumped his head on the way up, cursing under his breath but emerging with a few bottles in each hand. "My favourite year," he announced, setting them down in a row in front of the Turk.

Reno counted backwards to the year of the alcohol that had been selected for him as he pointed to an dark amber liquid in a plain clear bottle. "Only four years ago?" the red head questioned. The bartender smirked. "What's so special about that year?"

"Ah, that was the year I first met my girlfriend," came the words as the drink was poured. It was presented to Reno with a _clunk_.

"Oh yeah? You been together the whole time since then?"

"Yes sir."

The Turk nodded faintly as he took a sip from his drink. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that the entire area seemed to have gone quiet. Everyone either had their eyes turned on him and the bartender or where playing cards quietly and pretending that they weren't listening. "Somethin' on my face?" With those words, the noise in the bar took up again. With a glance at his server, he noticed the older man seemed to be troubled with something.

"You shouldn't be here," the bartender muttered quietly after awhile. "It's not safe. You should take your friend and go."

"Nah, I kinda like it here. Nothing seems wrong here."

The bartender sucked his teeth and shook his head. Similar to Reno, he had enough dark hair to throw in a small ponytail but he left it down in shaggy curls. "Please don't be coy sir." By now, Reno was enjoying the idea of being called 'sir' by an older man. "We all know how you are. No—don't deny it, sir. We all know you're with Shin-Ra. One of your kind came down here during a raid last month. Never woulda thought I'd see someone from Wutai as one of Shin-Ra's lapdogs….." It took Reno a moment to realize the man was speaking about Tseng.

"So? If you all hate me so much, why don't ya just kill me know and get it over with?"

"You misunderstand our customs sir—"

"Reno," he corrected.

"Right. Reno, you misunderstand our customs. Unlike you, we fight fair. If you haven't said or done anything that would incline us to believe you wanted to fight, we would never engage you."

"Sounds like a shitty bunch of chivalry to me. That's not gonna do you much good if—" The bartender cut him off.

"If what? The company decides to wage a war against us? Please. We've lost enough. Let's not talk of such a dark and dim future."

"Tell me about your girlfriend then," Reno asked. If he angered the man enough, he would be thrown out with Rude and then the rules of the club might not apply when he took the King up in a fight. He needed to get back on the barista's good side again. "What she was like?"

A crooked smile appeared. "She was… amazing."

"Good girl?"

"Good girl, better in bed." Reno smirked as the man continued. "She never said 'no' to anything I asked her to do."

"In the bedroom or outside it?" Reno pressed. From across the room, he could hear Rude mutter something about how he was going to get hurt by inquiring about the wrong person's sex life.

"Both. She couldn't keep quiet either. …. No, but she was a sweet girl. Treated me better than my own mother did. She cooked, she cleaned…." The man let out a nostalgic sigh. Reno took the time to finish off his drink. He tossed a glance at the ring and then back at the bartender.

"So, what chance do you think an outsider like me has against these guys?"

_"Them?_ Why… why would you—?"

Reno swivelled in the chair. "I want them," he answered simply.

"You what?"

The next response was louder and it reached everyone's ears. "Everybody in this club. You're all going to become SOLDIER candidates," he announced receiving glares and curses immediately after.

"And what if we refuse?" shouted someone near the rink.

"Then I'm going to take you all by force."

"Take all of us away?" Another man began, walking towards Reno. "Don't kid yourself. You think we're just going to let you do whatever you want?!"

"I'm thinking you should get out of my face under your own will while you still can."

_"Little piece of shit."_

And that was how the fighting began. The bartender watched, quite amused as he reached for a rag and started to rub his counter absentmindedly. Reno took the defensive position automatically, not out of inexperience, but he could recognize it as going slow and cautious to become more aware. He was learning how the Costans fought; what his opponent's weaknesses were….. He wasn't taking it seriously at all. Maybe a minute later, the man who had jumped Reno was lying on the floor, incapacitated and moaning pathetically.

"Amazing," the bartender breathed.

Reno turned back face the bartender. "You never told me man, whaddya think my chances are?" The only reason this was asked was to mock the assembled club members. Still the bartender had to laugh out loud.

"No one's going to be beat you," he declared loudly with a chuckle. "They won't stand a chance against someone as quick as you."

"Think so?"

"I know so. They're not going to come _close_ to beating you."

"Huh…." Reno turned around to face the King, who was standing completely baffled in the ring. "Guess that means I'm going after you next. You ready?"

The King blinked before mulling it over. "An outsider has to know the rules. The rules here are simple. The strongest person in the club decides all the rules. In other words, I'm the rules in this place!"

"Then fight me. I'm going to become the next King."

"So confident," chuckled the bartender. "Well, my friend, he's missing one important rule—you have to fight the four toughest fighters here aside from the King first."

"Then enough talk. Let's fight."

* * *

It took maybe an hour, but it couldn't have lasted longer than that. At that time, several men were doubled over beside the ring and the King had hit the floor so hard, he was beginning to twitch and shiver against his will. Reno stood above him with his hands in his pockets. He never even once brought out the metallic weapon that everyone saw clearly now that his white sleeves were rolled up. (The black jacket and tie having been abandoned long ago.)

"Anyone else?" the Turk asked softly, eyes darting around room. Of course, no one dared. "Alright then. Everyone, up and at 'em, yo. As my first act as King, I'm ordering all of your sorry asses back to the ship with Rude and I. Once we arrive in Midgar, you'll become SOLDIER candidates. Welcome to Shin-Ra."

No one dared make a sound. They all glanced at the bartender, the only true witness they would believe and he nodded solemnly. "You're being ordered by your King," he repeated. "You must do exactly as he says. Farewell, my friends." Rude began to line everyone up to follow him outside the bar. Reno took up the rear, ready to get back to the ship as soon as possible to take a nap but not before stopping at the bar once again.

"Hey man." He nodded at the bartender. "You ain't a fighter are ya?"

Wide eyed, the bartender shook his head. "Not a member of the club either. They just sign my check."

"Guess you lucked out then."

"Guess I did."

Looking at the older man, Reno suddenly felt as though he'd seen the man before. "What did you say your name was?" he asked.

"I didn't. But you…. You my friend, you can call me Jefe."

The name didn't ring a bell. He just was one of those guys with familiar faces. "Nice to meet you, Jefe. Let's hope we never have to meet again." Both men shook hands. Reno left a few moments later, never getting the chance to hear Jefe's next words.

"Yes, that would be best… for her."


	10. Bonding

_Disclaimer:_ I think we get the point by now. And yes, the Jefe that appeared in the last chapter was in fact the same Jefe that you think he is. That's right, he's Myria's Jefe. Her "lovely", "ex"-boyfriend and leader of _los Angelitos. _

Ugh. You have no idea how hard it was to get this chapter done when I busted my pinky three quarters of the way through writing it. Not only did I loose my pinky moving abilities, thus making it tremendously harder to capitalize anything and save, but I had to curl whatever it is you call the finger next to your pinky in order to do all the things my pinky does while typing…. Let's give a welcome to the new reviewers who have hopped aboard; ZakuReno and Ashulee! Everyone who reviewed the last chapter has earned a free ticket to the Honeybee Inn's _He's a Shin-Ra Man_ special event!

* * *

**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter X: **Bonding

* * *

_Looking at the older man, Reno suddenly felt as though he'd seen the man before. "What did you say your name was?" he asked._

_"I didn't. But you…. You my friend, you can call me Jefe."_

_"Nice to meet you, Jefe. Let's hope we never have to meet again." Both men shook hands. Reno left a few moments later, never getting the chance to hear Jefe's next words._

_"Yes, that would be best… for her."_

The fall weather that Myria was used to was nothing like this. She was used the hot, sweltering sun accompanied by a cool breeze. She was used to the fevers and heat strokes that she had easily obtained running around beneath the sun when she was younger, so she was also used to her mother having to carry her, kicking and screaming, to the ocean. But now, during the last days of October she was sure her homesick desire to be back on the beach would only intensify as November came. Right now, Myria wished she was the one with the fever instead of her three year old.

High fevers weren't rare of Marisol either when she got sick but in Midgar, there was no ocean to throw a sick child into so that they could cool off quicker. And naturally, there was no way that she could stay home in the Shin-Ra owned apartment they had recently moved into to tend to the sick girl. She was in a panic.

"You're not really going to leave me alone, are you?" Marisol asked with a shiver. She had a migraine as well as the chills and was tucked under the covers of the bed her and Myria shared. All the lights in the room were turned off.

"I have to." Those were always the cold words she was forced to say to her child every day.

"Don't you love me?" And _those_ were the words that continually stabbed at Myria's heart and conscious every time she left work.

She was a terrible mother. She couldn't even look after her own baby girl. Hell, she didn't have the money to either. For some strange reason, "prisoner of war", "indentured servant" and "ex-drug dealer" didn't look very good on a resume. Neither did "Shin-Ra employee" but it wasn't like she would get a chance to work anywhere else the rest of her life. She was getting nauseous herself as she was getting ready to walk out the door.

"I'm writing my cell phone number done and I'm leaving it on the table here. If you feel worse or even if you feel better, call me." One of the things she had taught Marisol in the past week was how to dial the phone. She couldn't quite memorize Myria's cell phone number, but she could at least match up the numbers on the piece of paper to the ones on the phone. For now, that would have to do. "I'll be done before it gets dark outside."

"Can you make me dinner?" Marisol pleaded from within the dark room.

"When I get home," Myria promised. A sharp pain was tearing at her chest and she couldn't bear to be in the same room as her daughter any more. She left the apartment as quickly as she could with the knowledge that she was ruining her daughter's childhood and life.

At this point in her life, the only perk she could see with living in the very same building that she worked at was that by only being an elevator's ride away; she didn't have to wake up as early to go to work. That meant that she didn't have to go to sleep as early to get to work and _that_ meant she had more time to spend with Marisol. Still, as she entered the elevator, she couldn't help but feel the worry and dread that she might not have that much more time with her daughter left bubbled up inside her. Veld hadn't spoken to her outside of group announcements at all since they had returned from Junon some days ago.

Not knowing if she was going to be punished was driving her insane. She could think of at least half a dozen things that went wrong during her first mission that could be pinned on her, all of which surely merited a punishment. Today, she was determined to seek out Veld before her shift officially started. All she had to do was walk that long walk to his office, knock on the door and—

"You and me are working together today."

Myria looked up. The young woman she had initially fought with in front of the mako reactor stood in front of her, hands folded behind her back. "You're Myria, right?" the other continued.

"Yeah." She stole a final glance at Veld's office. "You are, uh, Cissnei right?"

Cissnei nodded. "Yup. Come on, lets go."

"Go? I just got here."

"Exactly. Veld said that as soon as you arrive, we should leave." Myria was about to protest when Cissnei cut her off. "Besides, the sooner we start, the sooner we finish and the sooner we can get the hell out of here."

A smile tugged at her lips. She liked the way Cissnei thought—the complete opposite of Jayden. "What are we doing today?" Myria asked as Cissnei lead her back to the elevator.

"Nothing terribly hard," Cissnei replied with a shrug. "It's not an exact mission but the executives just want us patrolling the streets for awhile until the mako reactor in Sector 8 is fully functional again. For some reason, the security system seemed to have been completely wiped out. I'd hate to see the person who was able to do that."

Now a wry smile appeared on Myria's face. She recalled the security system and all the effort it took to shut it down far too clearly. She still had the bruises to prove it. Who would have thought fighting yourself could be so hard? "Neither would I," she agreed as the elevator doors opened. Cissnei started to go in first but she bumped into Jayden as he stepped out.

"Careful, Ciss," he warned, grinning. "Can't do any damage to me before I get out on the field."

Myria blinked. "The field?"

"Uh-huh~. Boss man is having me escort Doctor Laylee and a buncha high tech files on the train today. Oh, don't look at me like that Cissnei; I know it's not so classified that I can't tell you about it."

"Most people would take the company's secrecy and defense a bit more seriously."

"But it's not like you would tell anyone~," he whined. Myria wasn't sure which was more annoying, the sound of Jayden whining or the elevator buzzing at them because they had kept the doors open for too long. With an annoyed sigh she just shoved her way past the blue eyed teen before beckoning for Cissnei to do the same. Jayden swapped 'good luck's with her before Cissnei finally stepped in. As the doors closed, Cissnei offered her a friendly smile.

"It'll be good working with you again," she said. "Especially without the threat of being beaten to death by a shovel."

"Just don't throw your shuriken away this time."

* * *

Three hours later, Myria found that Cissnei had in fact been right when she said that their work today was simple. In fact, there was nothing really to it. "They just want us to intimidate them by making our presence known," Cissnei explained.

"Why don't they send us off on another mission?"

Cissnei shrugged. "I guess they just don't have one for us. But that's a good thing. It means things are getting quiet again and everyone is safer."

Nodding, Myria added, "I don't suppose they'd want to have everyone scattered to the winds in case AVALANCHE tried to pull another stunt again."

"Exactly," Cissnei agreed with a smile. Her hands were folded behind her back as if she was hiding something but Myria could see that there was nothing in her hands. Continuing on to walk for a few minutes, the auburn woman stopped eventually to point out another shop. (Giving Myria a tour of Midgar as they went along was the other thing the two women were doing to keep themselves entertained. "See that store over there? The one with the pie painted in the glass?" She glanced over to the other Turk to see Myria nod. "That place is called _The Roost_. It's the best and the cheapest place to get food, plus it has amazing deserts. An elderly couple owns it; the wife makes all the cakes and sweets they sell."

Myria could already see clear differences between her and Cissnei aside from the obvious ones. Cissnei respected everyone and everything much more than the Costan did—she said the couple was 'elderly' but the politest thing Myria would have said was 'old'. Remembering that her blond co-worker had an affinity towards sweets, she asked, "Must be Jayden's favorite place in the entire city, huh?"

Cissnei only laughed. "Not even close. Haven't you figured out that HQ is his favorite place in the city?"

She recalled the day she had first met the curly haired Turk. One of the first things he had said after introducing himself (and forgetting that he did so) was,_ "….'Sides, the earlier we get there, the longer the shift lasts, right? That means more fun and adventure for us in the long run…."_

Longer shifts. Ugh. She shuddered at the thought. The trip to Junon, on top of her first run in with AVALANCHE, and back was something she never wanted to repeat again. Evidence that she could barely stand the simple eight hour shift she had now been assigned to came in the form of her checking her PHS for the fourth time that hour for the time.

_9:48…_

"Call them," Cissnei said suddenly.

"What?"

Sighing, Cissnei took a few steps in front of Myria and turned to face her, walking backwards in the process. "You've checked your phone at least twelve times since we left HQ, you wince every time you hear someone cough or sneeze. Come on, Myria, you're worried about someone. Call them. I won't tell Tseng or Veld. Plus, that phone is also your personal phone."

She was considering it. "Don't they monitor the calls?"

"Sometimes for the rest of the Departments, but never us. It'd be too risky to let an outsider know the kinds of things we know."

Myria frowned. "What kind of things do we know?"

"Things. Bad things. Like what Jay's doing today."

_Escorting the covert files and Doctor Laylee,_ Myria remembered.

"Anyway, go ahead and call whoever's waiting for you back home. I'm gonna grab an iced coffee. Want something? My treat."

Taking drinks of any sorts from people you barely knew, or thought you knew, was something that Myria could give personal testimony for being bad. "I'll save it for a rainy day." Cissnei shrugged before walking away to a street vendor, just across the way and close enough for Myria to catch her asking for extra milk and sugar. Glancing at her PHS, she sighed before dialing the number of the company apartment she had been given. Its endless ringing tone made her worry that Marisol's fever had taken a turn for the worst. Finally, an answer. No words, just unsteady, labored breaths.

_"Hija?"_ Myria whispered.

There was a sigh of relief on the other end. "Mama? Oh, I was worried it was a bad person calling."

"No bad guys have this number," Myria answered back in Costan. "Just me and my boss."

"Would he ever call here?"

"Not unless he was looking for me." From the corner of her eye, she saw Cissnei hand over some gil to the vendor before taking a seat on the curb of the sideway, stirring her iced coffee idly. She looked like she would give Myria as much time as she wanted. "How are you feeling?"

"Better…. But worse too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been drinking lots of water like you told me too but my tummy started to hurt. I took a cold shower."

"How do you feel now?"

"Better but now I'm cold." Almost to emphasize this, the girl's teeth began to chatter.

"Get under the covers. Can you take your temperature for me?"

Marisol let out a groan. "But you always put it too far down my throat."

"I'm not there," she reminded the girl. "You can do it yourself." Marisol sighed from the other end, but eventually muttered for her to hold on. She waited in silence until she heard the beeping of the thermometer.

_"Noventa y cinco."_ Ninety-five. She was cold but at least her fever and broken. _"Mami—"_

Cissnei was walking back now. She had downed her coffee like an alcoholic downed part of a six pack. "I have to go. Feel better, my love." She had to hang up after that. "You sure finished that fast," she acknowledge Cissnei.

"Aha~. That's what happens when you've been addicted to it since your were fourteen." The younger woman chuckled sheepishly. Myria expected her to ask a question about the phone call she had just made but instead, all she got was more information about the city. "This Sector is still under heavy construction, you can see more of it on the edge of the Sector. The train station is just ahead though. Come on, I want to teach you about the trains."

"I know how to take a train," Myria snapped, not liking the inclination that Cissnei's words had carried.

"And I'm sure you do," Cissnei mumbled, taking Myria's wrist and tugging her quicker towards the looming dark gray building that lay on the horizon. Instead of pulling Myria inside, the Costan found herself being brought past it. Cissnei was leading her along side the tracks. "It's hard to see from inside there but you see that turn up ahead?" Myria freed her wrist a grumbled in agreement. "See how there are multiple tracks?"

"Uptown and downtown?" she suggested dully.

Cissnei smiled. "Nope~. All trains go one way. _But_ Midgar—the Plate that is—was built within a giant circle. All the trains run parallel to each other, going in and out of some Sectors and not others. In theory, if you had to, you could try and jump from one train to another."

"Who'd be stupid enough to try that?" Myria asked, noting that a train was pulling out of the station a few track sets away. Not even a second later, another began to rush past them. She covered her ears to block out the sound of the train, turning away from the train. As she turned, she had to do a double take to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her when she saw a man on top of the train.

Wildly curly blond hair, pallid skin, dressed in a black suit… completely surrounded soldiers in black and gray uniforms, guns pointed at him.

… _Jayden?!_

As soon as she had recognized him, the train was around the bend, headed out of sight and leaving the two women in a stunned silence. After a few moments, Cissnei turned to her. "Was that just….?"

Myria nodded. "Uh-uh."

"And he was…?"

"Yeah."

Cissnei blinked. "Should, should we help him?" she began cautiously.

Myria deadpanned. "And what, chase after the train?" She shook her head. "Nah, Jayden's got it all under control."

* * *

A wave of nausea rippled through him. Two things swam about the fuzzy thoughts and images his mind was trying to process…. AVALANCHE and Doctor Laylee…. Protect Doctor Laylee; protect the disk containing information about the SOLDIER program—protect it at all costs.

"Don't bother," he heard a voice say, "He's not getting up anytime soon."

That's right. He was doubled over, on his knees. Blue eyes were filled tears that had been forced out of him by a sharp jab to his stomach with the butt of a gun. _I… failed…_He couldn't protect her. Doctor Laylee would be killed now; AVALANCHE had a hold of the disk…. All those files, all the weaknesses of every life they contained.

He hiccupped back the bile was burning at his throat.

All those lives….

Pinching his blue eyes shut, he never saw the boot come in contact with his back as it kicked him to the floor. He groaned in acknowledgement of the pain but he knew that this could be nothing compared to what would await him when he got back to the barracks—if he got back to the barracks, that is.

What would happen to all those SOLDIERs?

Would they be killed?

The thought sent another wave of nausea through him that forced him to clasp a hand over his pink lips. He had to do something. He had to manage to struggle to his feet. "Let Doctor Laylee go," he commanded in a weary voice. Opening his eyes, he took a step towards the AVALANCHE soldier clad in all black before being knocked flat on his back, the wind being forced out of him. Once again he was unaware of what was happening.

He rolled over to his side, head pounding and eyes swimming. Someone was shouting for him—"_Cloud! Cloud!"_—and he vaguely realized that it was Doctor Laylee.

"He's just a kid!" the woman shouted, jumping up from where AVALANCHE was holding her captive on the train car.

"He's Shin-Ra scum." A heated argument ensued, allowing Cloud to slowly pull himself to a kneeling position again. He tried to stand up, but the cadet's legs seemed worthless.

"He's going to die."

* * *

Feet pounded against the train's thick floors. Throwing open the door to the final train car, Jayden came skidding to a halt, brandishing his Nunchakus. "Freeze!" he shouted, noticing two AVALANCHE operatives advancing towards the cadet who was one of the multiple bodyguards assigned to the doctor. The same bratty blond teenager who had stopped him from protecting the SOLDIER disk.

"The Turks? I thought we got rid of you." They were advancing on him now. Good. It'd get them away from that useless, talentless cadet that was dragging down the entire mission.

Jayden stepped back. "Doctor Laylee?" he called, checking to see that the scientist was still alive.

"I'm fine," he heard. "But the boy…."

Jayden risked looking away from the men advancing on him to look at the useless heap that was Cloud Strife. "Cloud," he began in a frustrated tone. _"Don't you dare get in my way this time!"_ With that, he rushed at his attackers, dropping any showy moves to crack the set of Nunchaku against their necks, effectively snapping their spines and rendering them useless. With the rebels rendered ineffective, he stepped over them and knelt by the fifteen year old. "Can you stand?" he asked, offering a hand to the boy not that younger than he was. There was just a four year difference in their age.

Cloud took his hand, hoisting himself up and grimacing at the disturbing positions that the heads of the AVALANCHE members were at. Looking green and sick, he met Jayden's eyes. "What are you doing here?" the teen demanded quietly. "Here to endanger the Doctor's life again?"

Jayden was taken back. The damn brat didn't understand the mission they had been assigned to at all. It wasn't a pretty mission and it wasn't one he had initially understood until AVALANCHE had hijacked the train. Turning to face his back to Cloud, Jayden sighed. "The data the Doctor has is important to the company. If it gets into AVALANCHE's hands, there's no telling what will happen."

"So you're willing to throw away her life to protect it?" Cloud accused.

Jayden bit his lip. "No one has to die on our side today."

"What are you talking about? You've put her in unnecessary danger! _That's the same thing!"_

Jayden winced. "That's…" His voice trailed off, unable to find a response.

Behind him, he heard Cloud sigh. "There's got to be a way to protect the Doctor as well as the disk….."

The Turk might have replied, but his PHS vibrated in his pocket. "Veld," he called into the phone. "I've located Doctor Laylee."

"Good job. Is the data safe?"

Listening to Veld speak, Jayden wished Cloud could understand that it was their job to protect the data and not the doctor. "Yeah, the data's safe. … Doc is too."

He could hear Veld whisper something to someone in the room with him before speaking to Jayden. "All right, take the data and get off the train."

"By myself?"

"Those people equipped with the death magic are coming your way."

"Death… magic?" Jayden frowned. At the start of the mission, a rebel dressed in black surplus clothes had approached the group, bringing a dark haze with him that killed anyone it came in contact with. "You mean the dark suited AVALANCHE cronies? Boss, you gotta tell me some more about them. Isn't there a way to get close enough to kill them?" From the corner of his eyes, he saw Cloud's appalled reaction to the way the Turk spoke so plainly about taking another life.

"They're Fuhito's underlings, but that's all we know about them right now. We don't know enough about them to deal with them just yet, so I want you go get that data and get out of there."

"Jayden…" Cloud was tugging on his sleeve. "Look out the window." He pointed a train that was matching their speed, one filled with AVALANCHE and its death-wielding members. They were all climbing to the roof of the train to board the one he and Cloud were on.

_They're already here?!_

"Jayden? Can you hear me?"

"It's the guys from before," Cloud muttered. "We have to do something."

"Cloud…." Jayden closed his eyes. This boy just did _not_ know how to follow orders. Faintly hearing Veld shouting his name now, the Turk shook his head. "Gotta call ya back, boss. AVALANCHE is already here." He snapped his phone shut, ending the call after that. He was already getting screamed at when he got back to HQ, what difference would it make if Veld was telling him off on top of it?

"Cloud, can you run?"

"What do mean?"

Jayden turned, facing the boy who could have only just started puberty. "Take the doctor. I want you to run to the other car. Hurry! Go! As fast as you can."

Cloud started to protest but the doctor was already pulling them away to the safety of another car. Jayden could see the AVALANCHE troops getting ready to jump. Running a nervous hand through his hair, he knelt and grabbed a gun off the floor before following after Cloud and the doctor. His pace was too calm and serene for a man who was about to die and by the time he reached the outside of the train, Cloud was waiting on the other side of the platform that allowed people to walk between two cars.

"What are you going to do?" Cloud shouted over the roar of the train.

Jayden could only smile. "My job is to protect the Shin-Ra company's secrets. It doesn't matter how I do it." He didn't wait for Cloud to understand that before taken the gun he had gotten off a corpse and emptying the clip of bullets into the panel connecting the cars.

"Wha--?!" Cloud was panicking.

"Heh. I told you, didn't I, kid? My job is to protect the company's interests."

"Jayden!" The panel was beginning to shake and tear apart.

"Take care of Doctor Laylee, Cloud."

"You're mental…."

Still, the Turk showed nothing but a passive arrogance, an inherited trait of the Turks. "The next time I see you," he shouted as the cars began to separate. "I better be the one saluting you—Cloud Strife, future SOLDIER!" Whatever the outcome of this was, Jayden was sure of one thing.

He was never working with the infantry again.

* * *

_**Ah, I forgot to give you guys the translations to a few spanish phrases used up to this point._

_Mi vida = It directly means "my life" but it's something a lot of mothers will call their children, both endearingly and occassionally sarcastically._

_Hija= daughter_

_Jefe= I just wanted to point out that his name sounds nothing like the name "Jeff". Jefe is pronounced HEH-FEH. (J's are pronounced like H's in spanish.) Jefe simply means "boss"._


	11. Human After All

__

Disclaimer:

Ah, you know I own nothing that can be looked up on final fantasy wiki.

Happy late Halloween everyone. Just as a heads up, things might be slow now. I've got my SATs coming up that I need to study for and there are two other writing projects I'm doing for school thatI'm essentially using as an excuse to push out two more fanfics. One is for The World Ends with You (beatXoc) and that one should be fairly short. The second should be one for Ouran High School Host Club. They'll be no real set updating plan for any of those fics, including this one. Just whenever I have the time to update.

* * *

**The Fading Skyline  
****Chapter XI: **Human After All

* * *

_"Take care of Doctor Laylee, Cloud."_

_"You're mental…."_

_Still, the Turk showed nothing but a passive arrogance, an inherited trait of the Turks. "The next time I see you," he shouted as the cars began to separate. "I better be the one saluting you—Cloud Strife, future SOLDIER!" Whatever the outcome of this was, Jayden was sure of one thing._

_He was never working with the infantry again._

"You don't know what Halloween is?!" It was supposed to be a question, but Jayden's voice suddenly shot up an octave and turned it into a shrill accusation. "How can you possibly not know what Halloween is?!"

It had been a busy week. First, despite Jayden's valiant efforts, AVALANCHE had managed to get its grubby hands on the storage disk he had been trying to protect. It had a code that had to be entered before opening the files of course, one that only Doctor Laylee should have known, and that code should have kept the invaluable information about SOLDIER a secret. 'Should' clearly was the key in both sentences because somehow, AVALANCHE seemed to have opened on the disk. Or at least, that was what had been assumed by the Turks. They also believed that the three attacks on President Shin-Ra's life that had all been made during the week had been a result of that.

The first attempt came while he was making a public announcement. It had been another bombing attempt like in Junon and Rude had "taken care of it"—something that Myria had that really translated to, _"I dismantled the bomb and beat that poor fool to death with my bare hands."_

The second attack against President Shin-Ra's life had been while Nora was escorting him to another building near Headquarters; there was a sniper on a roof who thankfully was a bad shot. Nora had shoved President Shin-Ra out of the way before making a call to Veld. A SOLDIER was dispatched and took care of the sniper.

The third and final attempt on President Shin-Ra's life took place no where the man at all. Because of all the previous attempted assassination, the company had spread rumors that yesterday the president would be appearing to make another public announcement. The announcement would be filmed at an auditorium in an elementary school in Sector 8. When the time came that the speech was supposed to begin, three AVALANCHE lackeys stormed the school, kicking open the doors to the auditorium. According to Reno and Rude, who were the only Shin-Ra employees in school, the rebel forces were getting stronger. Everyone also assumed that the duo had tortured the heretics, especially after hearing that they used to work for Shin-Ra, but everyone had a different scenario in their mind about why Reno's white sleeves were tainted with dark red drops.

Nevertheless, Veld had decided that because of the increase of demand the company had for his Turks, he'd allow them all a full, undisturbed, half hour break that day. He should have known better. An hour after he informed them they could take that thirty minute luxury, every single Turk had taken him up on that offer all at once. Even Tseng (after some friendly peer pressure from Reno and Rude), which left Veld all by his lonesome and all the rest of clandestine workers on the sixty-fourth floor. Reno was monopolizing an entire couch to rest his lanky body, Rude was at the coffee machine, Cissnei sat on a chair with her eyes closed, Nora paced, and Jayden stood over Myria who was laying down on a wooden table with her legs dangling over it.

"I can't believe it," Jayden muttered. He shook his head.

Myria, like Reno and Cissnei, had been trying to catch a nap. "Why not?" she drawled lazily, keeping her eyes closed. "No one celebrates it where I'm from."

Jayden's response was a high-pitch yelp of shock. _"You don't celebrate Halloween?!" _That was worse than not knowing what it was!

Myria could hear Reno groan from the couch he lay on beside her. "Shut yer trap kid," he growled. "Some people are trying to sleep."

"Eep. Sorry." A few moments passed before Myria felt someone nudge her shoulder. She half opened her right eye; Jayden was crouching beside her now. "So, where _are_ you from?" he asked softly.

Myria sighed and rolled over, turning her back to the bright eyed blonde. _" Yo vivía en Costa del Sol."_

"…What?"

"Oh for god's sake!" Reno sat up and chucked a pillow at the back of Jayden's head. _"Shut up, kid!_ I need to _sleep_."

"But it's 10:19! In the _morning._ You can't go to sleep now, Reno—you'll never be able to sleep tonight if you do."

"I'm not going to get any sleep tonight because Tseng's got me working an extra shift tonight."

"What—"

"Jayden." Myria tugged at Jayden's jacket.

He looked down at her. "Yeah?"

"Come closer." He knelt at her side again. "Closer." He walked his knees towards her face. "Close your eyes." Frowning, he did so. There was the click of a gun being cocked and before he knew it, cold metal was pressed against his nose, startling his eyes open. "If you know what's good for you, you'll keep quiet for the next thirty minutes."

"Twenty-five," Cissnei corrected after glancing at the clock.

"Twenty-five minutes, then." Myria smiled. "Understand?" Jayden nodded vigorously, clamping both hands over his mouth before crawling away from her. Rude chuckled. As Myria put her gun away, he saw that the safety had still been on when she threatened Jayden with it. But there was no need to tell the boy that….

Sooner or later a few moments of silence passed, Reno let out a sigh of relief. _"Finally_. Someone wake me up in twenty-five minutes."

* * *

"Honestly Myria, you'll be the death of me one day."

A smirk, a roll of the eyes and then words. "But you love me anyway." Batting eyelashes to twist an elbow and force a smile.

A snort, a curse and then reluctance. "One hour." The words came as a restrained warning. "That's it. No more—"

"And no less." With that, Myria grabbed her best friend's elbow, linking it with her own before pulling her out of the doorway.

"Hey! Let me close the door!"

"But Slyvannaaa~," Myria whined. "It'll make too much noise."

"You're making too much noise," Slyvanna hissed. "Be quiet for a moment." She thumped her friend gently on the head and the two teenagers crept back to the doorway, the younger of the two closing the door. The Costan pair had been best friends since they could remember and neither of them acted their age. While Myria was the eldest at fourteen, at least a year older, she was the most selfish girl Slyvanna had met although it was hard to pin Myria's personality, as her attitude could change completely at the drop of a hat. It was a talent, one that required lots of lying and had no doubt been created to mask what her best friend suspected was her true persona; a wild, party girl with a spitfire mouth. A girl who was constantly dragging her best, and only, friend around Costa del Sol, getting in trouble.

Slyvanna eyed the large bag that bounced against Myria's hip as they walked. She sucked in her breath. "I can't believe you," she hissed. "Are you trying to throw your life away?" Though she might be the younger of the two, she was the voice of reason in Myria's life—not her parents barely who only knew a fraction of what their daughter was doing behind their backs. Mustering a glare with her dark brown eyes, Slyvanna finally swatted Myria away. "Are you even listening to me? That's _illegal."_

"What is?" Myria asked innocently, still walking under the light of the full moon. It was early in the morning, maybe three or four. The streets of Costa del Sol weren't filled with its native inhabitants but as the majority of parties were letting out or diminishing, people were beginning to find their way home with loud, drunken laughter.

"Don't be coy."

"Ah, Slyvie, you're going to ruin your make-up with that face. And what's with your hair? It's a mess."

"Unlike some people, I was asleep."

"You can sleep when the sun comes up," Myria vowed as she stopped in the middle of the dirt street and held out her hand. "You promised me an hour, Slyvanna."

"And you promised me you'd learn to behave," Slyvanna retorted.

Myria scoffed, lowering her hand to rest it on her hip. "I _am_ behaving," she insisted. "I'm not drinking, or smoking or taking off—" Slyvanna let out a groan. Not wanting to hear any more or wanting her friend to get in any trouble, she rushed forward to take her friend by the hand. Myria smiled. "It's only a couple of deliveries and then we can go down to the beach."

Once again, Slyvanna's dark eyes were drawn to the bag at Myria's hip. "How much is it?"

The fourteen year old shrugged and turned to the right, pushing open the door to a store and dragging her friend in tow. "Good morning!" she called in a cheerful voice, as if the sun was actually up. They were inside a deli, headed straight towards the counter where a couple in their mid-twenties was cleaning up their work station. As soon as they saw Myria, both their faces lit up.

"Well, well," the man chuckled. "I do believe this is an honor." Myria beamed arrogantly at his compliment. "What do we owe you this time?" he asked, eyeing Slyvanna carefully.

"Same as usual," Myria replied. She leaned her arms down on the counter as he went to the cash register. "Rosa?" His wife turned around. Slyvanna took a step back; the woman's eyes looked swollen, dark rings under them from a lack of sleep. She looked terrible. "Is it too late to ask for a sandwich?"

The woman smiled. "It's never too late for you, _mi Reina. _The usual?"

Myria glance to her right. "You want half of it, Slyvie?" The teen in question shrugged. "Add mayo and extra vinegar," she instructed with a nod.

"Whatever you want."

By now her husband had returned with several twenties in hand, counting them over before holding them out towards Myria. In turn, Myria reached into her bag and pulled out a package wrapped in brown paper, half the size of her wrist. Taking the money first, she left the package on the counter.

"Ah, Myria, you're so kind to us," the husband sighed, taking the package and slipping it into his pocket.

"Pass on our bests to Jefe," his wife added as she walked over, handing off the sandwich she had just made.

"I will." Myria grabbed the sandwich, took half out of the wrapper and offered the rest to Slyvanna. "Thank you!" Once they were outside, she finally noticed the glare her best friend had been giving her since they had entered the store. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Oh come on."

"It's nothing."

_"Slyvanna._"

"It's just…" the youngest shook her head, letting jet black curls bounce to and fro. "I can't see you as the bad guy."

They both stopped. "Who… what makes me the bad guy?" A slender finger pointed towards the bag. Myria blinked. Not even a moment later and a scowl appeared on her features. "I'm just doing him a favor."

* * *

Rain.

Soft, cool and forgiving. It cleaned the planet and maybe, dear god _please_, let it also clean her soul. It never questioned anyone; it only brought fortune or floods. Though it was never the latter for tourist hotspot. Oh, if only though ignorant, pompous fools knew what really happened after they went to sleep.

"I told you…"

A wave of pain racked through her body.

"I told you."

There was a gasp, both bodies shuddered and a sob escaped the youngest. She didn't need to say it. Both girls were remembering the same thing. _"You'll be the death of me," _the walls echoed. They had always known it would happen; it had just been a matter of time.

The eldest held her breath. "Slyvanna?" She was almost too afraid to speak. If it were true, she didn't want to know. If there were any lie that would ordinarily have to be force-fed down her throat, she would swallow it whole now. She would down the whole bottle. Anything to avoid or deny what was really happening. "Slyvie?" Myria's voice cracked and she felt her friend's breathing grow shallow against her chest.

Dear goddess, anything but _this._

"I—" she pinched her eyes shut.

A whimper, maybe a pained laugh, then the bomb went off. _"Díos salva a la reina." _

She was gone.

* * *

"Ugh, _you_ again? Slyvanna, you've got to learn to keep better than this."

He rolled his eyes, eyes that matched her own rather than her friend's. "Out of my way Delgado."

Myria smirked, pulling the door closed. He grabbed the metal door and pulled back. "Make me Rafe," she challenged.

It was his turn to smirk now. "With pleasure." With what looked like the faintest tug of his arm, Rafe had yanked the door wide open, nearly pulling Myria's arm out of its socket in the process. He at the very least managed to pull her out of the doorway to his own house so he could enter. But like any true gentleman, he left the door open so that she could follow him inside. She followed, but she slammed the door behind her.

"_Puta."_ The sixteen year old growled. "What the fuck was that for, asshole?"

Rafe only shrugged. He glanced around the living room, wide, empty as usual and let out a nostalgic sigh. "I missed it," he said to himself before removing the tie and gray jacket to his suit, tossing them skillfully on top of Myria's head. She swore again, louder, and ripped the clothes from her head, tossing them on the worn out wooden floor. "Watch it, Delgado. Those clothes are worth more than you are."

"Watch yourself, Rafe," she retorted. "You've been gone for a year. Things have changed. Nothing's like you left it."

"You mean _you've_ gone and changed, Myria. _'La Reina del Sol'_, right?" She looked as if she couldn't pick between looking smug or cautious. "Congratulations. How many times did you have to spread your legs for him to earn that title?"

"_Rafael!"_ Slyvana's voice cut through the tension of the room. Her voice hoarse and cracking. "Don't speak like that to her."

"Tch."

"Rafael," Slyvanna warned. "I mean it." Her eyes softened and she walked over to him, pulling him into a tight embrace. "Don't get yourself in trouble," she begged in a whisper. "Please."

He sighed, resting his chin on the top of Slyvanna's head. "So this is what it's come down to? I have to cower in fear of my baby sister's 'friend'?" He snorted.

"That's right." Myria stepped forward. "If you know what's good for you, my friend, you'll learn to keep your god damn mouth shut and when to tuck your tail between your legs."

Rafe opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by the sound of a baby crying. All scorn left his face and it was filled with compassion and worry. "That's her?" he asked, pulling an arm's length away from Slyvanna. She nodded, keeping her eyes downward, hoping he wouldn't see the dark rings below his eyes or follow the trail of bruises on her arms. "Can… can I see her?" The twenty-two year old almost seemed eager.

Slyvanna smiled. "You're her uncle. Of course you can see her." She glanced at Myria, cocking her head up towards the steps that lead to her room. An invitation to go see the child.

"Did you decide on a name yet?" Rafe asked.

Another smile. "Marisol," she answered. "I named her Marisol."

* * *

"It's nothing against you, my friend, just good business. You understand."

"Just... good business...? Oh god, please don't—"

* * *

"Hey, rookie. Come on, wake up." Reno's voice lifted Myria out of her dazed slumber, accompanied by a gentle shake from his hand. She let out a pent up sigh and begrudgingly opened her eyes. Light immediately assaulted her vision, forcing her eyes shut. "Come on now," Reno repeated from above. He shook her again. "Don't be a pain."

"Let me sleep," she grumbled, rolling onto her stomach while folding her arms beneath her face to use as a pillow. She could hear Reno suck his teeth and sigh.

"So we gotta do this the difficult way, huh?" She let silence answer him. "Alright then. Don't say I didn't warn you." Before she knew what was happening, his body weight dropped momentarily against her back as his arms darted beneath her stomach, wrapping around her waist to pull her up. "Ally-oupe," he grunted, lifting her up.

Her eyes shot open and her elbow met his gut as he dragged her towards the elevators. "Put me _down_."

"Nu-uh. You'll just go back to sleep and if Reno can't sleep, no one can."

"Reno! I mean it." She squirmed half heartedly against his grip, knowing that if she actually hurt him in any sort of way of left any sort of mark that the company might have her head for it.

"Do you?" he teased. "You're not trying too hard, rookie. Hey Rude, wanna give me a hand?" The others were all waiting outside the elevators, Nora stepping in as soon as the door opened without so much as a glance towards the odd sight. Jayden giggled like a schoolgirl and Myria couldn't see Cissnei. She could only see Rude and Tseng.

"Let go of me, bitch," she growled, leaning forward to try and use Reno's weight to toss him over his shoulder. It didn't work—he leaned back away from her and lifted her off the ground. For Pete's sake! _"Boss!"_ she whined loudly. "Order him to let me go."

"Veld ain't here," the red head reminded her.

"Tseng!" Nothing. No reaction but what looked like a smile or smirk trying to twitch onto the Wutain man's face. She swallowed her pride. "Sir…."

Maybe he recognized how helpless she was with the company's strict polices and extra guidelines hovering over her head or maybe it was because he seemed to be inheriting Veld's no-nonsense tolerance through osmosis, either way, he conceded. "Put her down, Reno." He stepped into the elevator then, the doors closing a moment later.

"Heh." With that sound effect, the only thing Reno could be planning to do was drop her flat on her ass. (In Myria's mind at least.) When he let go, she stumbled two steps before regaining her posture, flattening her jacket out with her hands and glaring at Reno with an unknown level of animosity. "I thought most women liked the idea of a guy carrying them around," he mused aloud.

"We're not honeymooning, Reno." She pressed the down button.

"God, of course not. This would be a terrible place to have a honeymoon—not a bed in sight! We'd have to be doing it on the floor and even _I_ don't want to know who or what's been on that floor."

_He'd fit right in back home,_ she thought with a smile. Both Turks stepped into the elevator. "If you don't want to know, I don't want to know," she drawled.

"What about you tell me something I do want to know?" Reno asked, leaning against the elevator wall beside her. "You said you were from Costa del Sol back there, right?"

She smiled. He was just saying that because the only thing he recognized when she had spoke in Costan was the name of her home. "Close. I said I used to live there. But it _is_ where I was born and raised. Why?"

He shrugged, watching the elevator count down the floor numbers it passed before he pushed off the wall to exit. "I hope you have a good winter jacket. Winters here are fucking freezing."

* * *

_Translations:_

_Yo vivía en Costa del Sol = I used to live in Costa del Sol. (To point something out, the way that vivir [to live] is conjugated, it's really saying that she used to "frequently" live there. When you use the imperfect tense in Spanish, you're referring to things you often did in the past but no longer do.)_

_Puta = Bitch_

_Mi reina = My queen_

_La Reina del Sol = the Queen of the Sun_

_Díos salva a la reina = God save the queen_


	12. A Warning

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys. No, I haven't abandoned you. I've just had a lot of stuff that's come up in real life. Worst of all, I lost my USB with my everything saved on it. I need to redo some chapters and dig back up the script for _Before Crisis_ because I'm swiping another mission for it. Nothing really else to say other than I'm sorry and thanks for sticking with me for so long.

And because of high demand for a more in depth coverage on Myria's past, keep a look out for the side story/prequel to this one.. I should be getting it out within the week, maybe a few days later. It's called La Reina del Sol and obviously with it being the prequel to The Fading Skyline, you'll see the answers to all the questions you've been asking me.


End file.
